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| Harris named chair to forestry caucus |
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2006/5/12
Local MP Dick Harris was appointed chairman of the National Forestry Caucus last Wednesday.
The caucus brings together MPs from across Canada whose ridings have significant forestry involvement, Harris said.
The caucus has the challenge of moving forestry issues ahead following a Canada-U.S. agreement on the softwood lumber dispute.
"The forest industry is very happy we're going to have some stability in the forest sector," Harris said. "They're pleased to be able to do some planning."
In meetings with forestry leaders, Harris said, it was clear the deal was a compromise they could live with.
The seven-year agreement announced last week would limit Canadian softwood to 34 per cent of the U.S. market.
And Canada is required to levy an export tax if the price of wood drops below $355 US per 1,000 board feet.
In exchange, the U.S. will drop the duties on Canadian softwood and return 80 per cent of $5.3 billion US collected since May 2002.
Harris said industry leaders he's spoken with are basically happy with the deal.
"On a couple items they may say they wanted more -this is clearly a compromise," he said.
The next seven to nine years will be a time for the industry to stabilize and move ahead, he added.
"The forest industry will continue to have some challenges," Harris said. "As chair of the caucus, I'll be working to try and address those in as effective way as possible." |
| Source:http://www.wltribune.com/ |
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