Softwood deal brings MPs back to Ottawa
by Romeo St. Martin

[PoliticsWatch posted 5:30 p.m. July 12, 2006]

Parliament Hill will be awoken from its summer slumber as MPs return Thursday for a special meeting about the softwood lumber deal.

OTTAWA  — Politics can't seem to take a holiday. 

In a preview of what could be a highly-partisan fall session, more than a dozen MPs are set to meet in Ottawa Thursday to discuss the recently initialled  softwood lumber deal with the United States. 

In a rare move, the Commons international trade committee was recalled at the behest of MPs from the three opposition parties earlier this week. 
 
The meeting comes two weeks after International Trade Minister David Emerson and U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab initialled the final legal text of the lumber deal in Geneva. 

Since then, and to the surprise of the government, provinces and industry associations have suddenly turned on the lumber deal, which appeared to have broad support when Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the framework in late April. 

The complaints of the industry are numerous, but many point to a recently added clause in the legal text which would allow the U.S. to opt out after 23 months. 

The opposition parties' decision to have a committee operational over the summer is putting the spotlight on what is shaping up to be the biggest political showdown in the House of Commons in the fall.  

To implement the deal, the government will have to introduce two pieces of legislation, including a ways and means motion that would put in place a new border tax.  

Emerson has said he wants the whole process completed by October 1.

All three opposition parties appear to oppose the final wording of the agreement and have often referred to the deal as a sell out.

That could pose a problem for the minority Conservative government, which will need the support of at least one of the three opposition parties to get it through the House of Commons. 

In an interview on a Calgary radio station on Tuesday, the prime minister personally raised the stakes in the coming showdown by saying any softwood legislation would be a matter of confidence, meaning its defeat will  result in an election. 

''This will be a confidence measure when it comes forward because it involves taxation measures, so we will see," Harper told popular Calgary radio host Dave Rutherford.

''The NDP is going to oppose any deal with the Americans. They don't support NAFTA. The Liberals are going to oppose any deal that we sign with any body.''

For weeks, there have been rumours circulating in Ottawa about the possibility of a fall election. 

Last week, the Hill Times quoted an unnamed "Conservative player" as saying on the subject of a fall election, "Polls will drive it, if we think we can win, we will go." 

Reporters have also noticed a pattern that each time the opposition attempts to thwart the government, the prime minister will use it as an opportunity to speak about his need for a majority government in order for him to implement his party's agenda unobstructed. 

While the Conservatives may want an election, the Liberal party appears to be in no shape to have one.  

The party is currently in the midst of a leadership campaign and won't have a new leader in place until its leadership convention is held in December.

But Liberal trade critic Dominic LeBlanc accused the prime minister of creating a diversion. 

"Whether or not a vote on this deal is considered a confidence matter is a moot point," he said in a statement released on Wednesday.

"In order for it to come into force, it needs 95 per cent of industry support - which it clearly lacks. Prime Minister Harper is trying to create a political scapegoat because he is beginning to see this agreement is DOA as currently written."

Whether or not the opposition parties will bring down the government won't be known until the fall. 

In the meantime, the opposition parties appear set to embarrass the government as much as possible until the vote.  

On Thursday, the members of the trade committee will meet for two hours in private where they will discuss future business. 

In a statement earlier this week, the Liberals' LeBlanc gave a preview of what course the committee could take, which included having representatives from the industry appear before the committee again for the second time in the less than two months. 

"We need to shine a light on the consequences of this deal which have been repeatedly skirted and ignored by this government," LeBlanc said.
 
As well, the committee could call Emerson to publicly criticize him. 

The spotlight will undoubtedly be on the committee. 

Without any other events taking place on Parliament Hill over the summer, it will have the full attention of the Parliamentary Press Gallery and will attract much more media attention than a committee that sits while the House is in session. 

The committee became highly partisan in the final weeks of the spring session of Parliament. 

The opposition parties used their majority to put forward a report that government MPs objected to because it did not include all the testimony of industry officials that appeared before the committee. 

As well, the committee has yet to deal with a motion of non-confidence in committee chair Leon Benoit that was put forward by NDP MP Peter Julian. 

One MP told PoliticsWatch that the Conservatives were putting out hints to other MPs that they could dissolve the committee.  

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