If I was a Tory I would not be to pleased about this.
The lumber CEO's and Campbell out here approve of this but do the workers and other effected by this proposed deal support it?
We won the trade rulings that mattered, there is a deal in place and the US has been shown to be wrong and yet Harper re negotiated the deal and is letting them keep a billion of our money? wtf? That money could be used to help retrained laid off Lumber workers.
I know when I was laid off from the mill they said we would be retrained yet when it came time to do that, we were told there was no money. wtf?
Well if Harpercrit wants an election all I can say is Bring it On!The federal Tory government plans to bring in a bill to implement the Canada-U.S. softwood lumber deal and warned Tuesday that a parliamentary defeat of the measure would force an election.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the government decided to go ahead with the agreement after getting a "clear majority" of support from all parts of the country.
Harper said the government will go ahead with legislation this fall but he didn't specify what percentage of lumber companies backed the agreement, which would put to rest a four-year trade dispute that has devastated Canada's lumber industry.
However, he threatened to call an election if Parliament fails to adopt the bill to be tabled once the House of Commons resumes sitting next month.
"This agreement will end years of costly legal wrangling, and allow us to move on to build a stronger, more prosperous Canada," Harper said in a brief appearance in the foyer of the House of Commons.
"As such, and because of its fiscal measures, the vote on this will be a confidence measure."
The government had served notice earlier this summer that it would consider the lumber deal a confidence matter, which could mean an election as early as September, just eight months after the last one.
That scenario would be averted, however, if just one opposition party - including the leaderless Liberals - supports the deal.
However, all opposition parties have taken turns criticizing the agreement as a sellout to U.S. interests and a capitulation to President George W. Bush.
The deal repays to Canadian producers about 80 per cent of the more than $5 billion (U.S.) in punitive duties collected by the United States on lumber shipments from Canada in the last three years. It also sets up a system of sliding duties and managed market access for Canadian companies, who now account for about a third of the U.S. market.
However, the agreement could impose significant hurdles for Canadian producers shipping wood into the U.S. if lumber prices fall, as they are now starting to do because of a weakening U.S. housing market.
Tuesday's announcement by Harper follows weeks of hard lobbying by Trade Minister David Emerson and others to get the major players in the softwood industry to back the deal. But now that the forest companies have accepted the agreement with some reservations, the ball is now in the politicians' court.
The NDP declared within minutes of Harper's announcement that it would vote against the deal, which leaves its destiny in the other parties' hands.
"Any enlightened parliamentarian will be voting against this deal," said NDP industry critic Peter Julian.
"As enlightened politicians, we're going to vote against it. We've read the agreement, we've seen the capitulations, we know it's not in Canadians' interests. . .
"This sellout is Stephen Harper trying to cozy up to George Bush. It is not about standing up for Canadians."
Julian said lumber officials have warned that the deal will mean severe job losses in certain sectors of their industry.
The Bloc Quebecois would not show its hand Tuesday but said it would continue to push for improvements to the deal.
Bloc critic Pierre Paquette said his party wants to see several changes, including an improved quota system and a clearer definition of the provincial role in forestry policy.
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