In this PoliticsWatch news article others state the obvious, but it has to be said:
Liberal trade critic Dominic Leblanc said the Conservatives appear willing to sell out Canadian lumber companies, provinces and communities to appease the White House.
“The government will simply cut a deal because it will make for a better barbecue at (President Bush’s) ranch in Texas,” he said.
NDP trade critic Peter Julian said he believes the Tories are rushing to reach a deal with the U.S. just to “rehabilitate David Emerson’s image.”
He said one softwood executive he spoke to Thursday told him it was the worst lumber deal he had seen in 25 years.
To be fair, its not all about Emerson – its about trying to convince Canadians that Emerson was “worth it”, not for Emerson’s sake but for Harper’s.
Not going to work.
These folks aren’t the only ones that David Emerson won’t meet.
April 27 – Neumann added that the [United Steelworkers] union asked International Trade Minister David Emerson for a meeting on the softwood lumber dispute as far back as February and did not receive even a reply to the request, let alone a formal refusal to meet.
Prediction: Emerson won’t meet with any local child care service agencies until after Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty plunks a child-care service-less budget down and it passes. Then he’ll agree to meet child care and early learning groups and claim “my hands are tied”.
NDP MP Peter Julian just now stood on the floor of the House of Commons and rightly criticized the government for ignoring electoral accountability in its accountability act, bill C-2, citing Vancouver—Kingsway’s legitimate grievance with David Emerson.
Its a simple issue. A member in the House sitting on the government side can’t stand up and say one thing and then the very next day immediately do the opposite without being rightly blasted out of his position.
That’s what Emerson has done. Emerson ran his election campaign on the back of one set of policies and positions, but shouldn’t be permitted to remain in the House now that he’s decided to vote against those polices including Child Care, Kyoto, Missile Defense and other areas where there are legitimate and profound differences between Conservative and Liberal positions.
My riding didn’t vote for those policies – quite the contrary – and Emerson owes his constituents the opportunity to tell him, via a by-election vote, if they approve or not.
Questions abound over the softwood lumber deal speculation.
How much substance of the impending “framework” leaked to press and to market participants? Why do the Vancouver Sun and other media outlets have draft copies of the proposed agreement? Who else has had early access to this material information, an insider’s view that would allow a so informed speculator to turn some quick profits?
Pierre Lacroix, a Montreal-based analyst with Desjardins Securities, said he suspected a deal had been reached when he saw Canada’s hard-hit lumber stocks start to climb in recent days. More >
What is the scope of David Emerson‘s involvement in the negotiations? Did the former CEO of BC-based Canadian Forest Products create, influence or recommend an approach or specific points of agreement which favour one lumber producing region in Canada over another?
Ontario Natural Resources Minister David Ramsey said the agreement would cap the province’s lumber exports at 20 per cent below historic levels. “We’ve been short-changed and we won’t stand for it,” Ramsay told reporters outside the Ontario legislature. “This potentially could mean job losses for northern Ontario. “Every other province except B.C. is hurt by this.” More >
Ontario doesn’t like it. Market participants certainly see the deal works better for one region over all others.
Canadian Forest Products, International Forest Products, Ainsworth Lumber, West Fraser Timber – all significant BC producers – on speculation over an impending deal have very clearly outperformed eastern-based majors Abitibi Consolidated and Domtar. That outperformance may not last, as concern rises over emerging details of the deal, yet market speculators can do a lot with a little advance notice and 3, 4 or 5+% price moves. Both up and down.
The last government seemed to get in hot water when income trusts moved dramatically on rumours and speculation; should this government be in similar hot water?
When will a public inquiry be called?
What happened to the David Emerson who said just before the last election:
People think that just because softwood lumber is a relatively small percentage of NAFTA trade, that somehow we should ignore this, but you can’t. The reality is, NAFTA covers many many sectors, and if NAFTA‘s decisions and the dispute resolution mechanism is not respected in lumber, it won’t be respected in other sectors. David Emerson, October 2005 – then Liberal Industry Minister
Details of the deal show quite clearly that the government is prepared to ignore the long-standing positions of Canada and industry that all punative tarrifs applied by the US are illegal.
Canada has won NAFTA victory after NAFTA victory after NAFTA victory. A chronology of NAFTA, World Trade Organization and US Court of International Trade challenges is available on the International Trade Canada website.
Last summer I praised then Liberal Minister of Industry David Emerson for his comments on the issue:
And Industry Minister David Emerson continued to warn that Canada can’t afford to back down in the dispute. Emerson said Sunday it’s time to take a stand, even if that means risking a trade war. More >
But details of the deal, and its predecessor – a substantially similar agreement which Emerson had a hand in scuttling during the last election – were not known to me or the Canadian public then, or during the election.
Someone ought to call for a public inquiry into this issue and soon.