Mr. Speaker, the American strategy throughout the softwood lumber dispute was very clear: it was to drag out the legal proceedings as long as possible in order to wear down the Canadian industry. Only loan guarantees would have helped the industry keep up the fight. According to Carl Grenier of the Free Trade Lumber Council, the Canadian government put pressure on the industries by telling them they would not get any help if they did not accept the agreement.
Is this attitude shown by the government not equivalent to allowing the Americans to go back on their word and disregard the NAFTA rulings?