The NDP is now resorting to blatant dishonesty to try and hide the damage Carole James and the NDP will do to the economy and the job losses that will result from their reckless forestry policies.
In today’s Globe and Mail, NDP forestry critic Bob Simpson says: "We have never stated we would rip up the [softwood-lumber] deal or abrogate the deal as they are claiming."
However, in March 2008, Carole James announced a five-point forestry plan where the NDP explicitly state they would “take the Softwood Lumber Agreement to hearings to determine what steps should be taken - up to and including abrogation...” http://www.bcndp.ca/newsroom/carole-james-has-plan-renew-bcs-forest-industry
“It is shocking and very disappointing to hear the NDP forestry critic stooping to such deceit,” says Forests Minister Pat Bell. “This is a time of uncertainty for British Columbians and they are looking for leadership and stability. But instead the NDP offers up a plan to provoke a trade war costing thousands of jobs, and an environmental plan that will eliminate up to 60,000 jobs, mainly in rural B.C. The NDP may be trying to hide from its own policies, but British Columbians won’t be fooled.”
Simpson’s dishonest comments come at the same time he is under fire from forestry industry leaders for reckless comments accusing B.C. companies of breaking the law and encouraging U.S. companies to sue them.
“To call up a trade journal and make reckless and unfounded allegations that B.C. forest companies are actively breaking the law, and then encouraging the American lumber lobby to sue, is absolutely repugnant at a time like this,” says Bell.
“Yet that is exactly what NDP forests critic Bob Simpson has done. By stating on the record his belief that the American lumber lobby is entitled to $500 million in damages from B.C. forest companies – based on his limited knowledge of our forest industry and trade laws – he puts forest workers jobs at risk and could cost our forest companies millions more in legal wrangling. Carole James must immediately fire her forests critic to send a signal that B.C. forest workers’ jobs must come before irresponsible political rhetoric.”
Bell was responding to Simpson’s comments published in the Canadian trade journal Madison’s Lumber, in which Simpson claims that B.C. forest companies are illegally manipulating the stumpage system and that as a result, Americans are entitled to “punitive damages in the amount of $500 million.”
Contact: Shane Mills, BC Liberal Party 604-648-4258
--- Backgrounder: NDP Against Softwood
Make no Mistake, Carole James would tear up the Softwood Lumber Agreement
“The federal and provincial government should take this agreement to hearings to determine what steps should be taken now – up to and including abrogation - to ensure we have the power to help our industry, our workers and our communities.” – Carole James, Speech to the Western Silviculture Association, Feb 07-08
“The current solution – The Softwood Lumber Agreement - is the wrong one.” –Carole James, Speech to the Western Silviculture Association, Feb 07-08
“It's a bad deal. Now, I've said you need to look at renegotiating it. You need to go back to the table.” – Carole James, Voice of BC, Oct 02-08
NDP Caucus Opposes the Softwood Lumber Agreement
“We want out of the deal.” – Bob Simpson, CKNW, Oct 05/08
“Is this a deal we can support? No, not on your life. Is this a deal that benefits communities? No, not on your life. …This is a deal that we should have never signed.” – Bob Simpson, Hansard, Feb 18-08
“This government, by signing out with this bad deal — the softwood lumber agreement — has capitulated to the Americans and abandoned rural British Columbia.” – Harry Lali, Hansard, Feb 13-08
“This deal is a silly deal, it was an unnecessary deal, and it has done nothing for the industry. It has not brought certainty; it has brought uncertainty.” – Bob Simpson MLA for Cariboo North, Hansard, Apr 17-07
“It’s a bad deal...it was a bad deal two months ago and it’s a bad deal now.” – Scott Fraser, Parksville Qualicum News, Aug 25-06
“It’s an agreement we now know is a bad deal for B.C.” – Mike Farnworth, NDP Radio Address, Jul 08-06
“What we’ve got is a bad deal that is going to be going worse. ...It’s a betrayal of not only Canadians, but also specifically of British Columbians.” - Harry Lali, CHNL, Aug 22-06
“The softwood deal is a sellout of British Columbia’s interests…” – Leonard Krog, Nanaimo News Bulletin, Sep 14-06
“I have yet to meet a single person in the forest industry - owners and folks who work in the industry - who tells me that this is a good deal for British Columbians or that it's going to bring stability for our operators over the long run. It's not.” – Harry Lali, Voice of BC, Jul 13-06
Authorized by Jim Pipe, Financial Agent, BC Liberal Party