CCCE Strongly Rejects Linkage Between Softwood Lumber and Energy

October 14, 2005

The following statement was issued today by Thomas d’Aquino, Chief Executive and President of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE):

Earlier this month, the Prime Minister delivered a speech to the Economic Club of New York in which he warned that the U.S. Administration’s approach to the softwood lumber dispute brings into question the integrity of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and threatens to set back the bilateral relationship.

The Prime Minister’s message was clear and unequivocal. Regrettably, in the days since his speech, political spin has obscured the substance of his remarks. Anyone who was not present for his speech – I was there – would be forgiven for thinking that the Prime Minister had directly linked the softwood lumber issue to trade in energy. Media coverage has focused on the idea that Canada might retaliate against the United States by somehow limiting American access to Canadian energy. It has further been suggested that the government’s efforts to promote stronger trade and investment ties with China are in fact aimed at punishing the United States over softwood.

Both of these suggestions are ridiculous. Regardless of how others may have interpreted his remarks in New York, the Prime Minister in no way linked softwood lumber with energy. The two issues are separate, and theCanadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE) unreservedly condemns any effort from any quarter to make such a linkage. Such a step would fly in the face of NAFTA obligations, economic realities and Canada’s national interests. Furthermore, it would make progress on the softwood dispute even more difficult. In any event, it must not be forgotten that sales of Canadian resources are determined by commercial arrangements undertaken by Canadian companies. The role of governments is and should be to enhance opportunities for trade rather than to play one market off against another.

The CCCE fully supports the government’s efforts to find a solution to the softwood lumber dispute. As we said in a major policy statement last month, “We must not let this single dispute distract us from the main challenge, that of building a safer and more competitive North America within a transforming global economy.”