OTTAWA
- (Web posted Feb. 25, 2002 @ 4:45 p.m.) Tory leader Joe Clark said Prime
Minister Jean Chrétien must get personally involved in the softwood lumber
dispute in order to save the Canadian industry and jobs.
 Last
week, negotiators from both sides of the border met in Ottawa in what has become
a protracted and frustrating dispute-resolution process for the Canadians.
Canada's lumber interests want secure access
to the immense American lumber market. The U.S. lumber lobby, however, has
complained that because most Canadian timber is cut on Crown land, that
represents an unfair subsidy.
Companies and workers in Canada's lumber
producing regions have been devastated since the Americans slapped huge
countervailing duties on U.S.-bound softwood exports.
The U.S. Department of Commerce is also
expected to make a final ruling on what the duties will be on March 21. That's
got Clark feeling jittery.
"We're in a situation now where the
stakes are very high," said Clark, speaking to reporters after Monday's
question period.
"A lot of the companies
involved,...if we continue to lose on this file, will be sitting ducks for takeovers
or for collapse."
During Question Period, Clark asked Prime
Minister Chrétien to get involved on the softwood lumber issue by directly
contacting American President George Bush.
"We're at a stage where there is only
one American who can really make a difference here," said Clark, referring
to the president.
Clark said Bush must be persuaded to convince the U.S. Department of Commerce
and the U.S. lumber interests to negotiate a softwood lumber deal with Canada.
"I think we're at a stage where the
only Canadian who can lead the president to do that is the prime minister,"
said Clark. "If we lose on this the consequences for Canadian communities,
Canadian industry and Canadian jobs could be devastating."
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