Alberta defends forestry industry

Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Oneil Carlier and Minister of Economic Development and Trade Deron Bilous issued the following statement in response to the final countervail and anti-dumping determination issued by the U.S. government against Canadian softwood lumber exports:

“We stand firmly behind Alberta families, workers and communities that rely on a strong and robust forestry industry. We won’t leave them in the lurch.

“We’re frustrated that our neighbour to the south is taking unfair and punitive actions against a longtime, reliable and responsible trading partner.

“We’ve seen this story before and we know how it ends. This is the fifth time since 1982 that the U.S. has investigated alleged Canadian lumber subsidies. In each case, international tribunals have ruled in Canada’s favour. We are confident that we will be vindicated yet again.

“These actions will drive lumber prices much higher in the U.S., will hurt their own people economically, cripple job creation, natural disaster recovery and hamper home ownership.

“Our soft wood lumber envoy Gary Doer, and officials at the Alberta office in Washington D.C. are meeting with American industry associations, Canadian and American officials and other provinces to work together as we prepare to respond.

“We will vigorously defend ourselves and we will continue to work closely with our forestry sector, the federal government and other provincial and territorial governments to mount the most effective defence we can.

“We will continue to work with our partners to negotiate a better outcome for Alberta’s forestry industry, and we will continue diversifying our markets to ensure our products are sold around the world so we can support job creation in Alberta’s forest communities.”

We will vigorously defend ourselves and we will continue to work closely with our forestry sector, the federal government and other provincial and territorial governments to mount the most effective defence we can.