Mario Simard

Mr. Speaker, Aside · 4 wordswhat a nice introduction.Aside Procedure · 10 wordsI will pick up on what my colleague just said.Procedure Claims · 46 wordsHe supports anyone who supports Canada. The major issue with the tariff crisis is that the federal government keeps crowing about building Canada. However, looking at the proposals that the government put forward these past few weeks, it looks more like building Canada while ignoring Quebec. Positioning · 12 wordsWhich two sectors are the most impacted by the U.S. government’s tariffs?Positioning Claims · 56 wordsThere is the aluminum sector, which is primarily based in Quebec.¹ Then there is the forestry sector, which is subject to a mix of countervailing and anti-dumping duties on top of 10% tariffs, for a total of 45%.² The forestry products we send across the border to the U.S. have their profit margins cut by 45%. Reasoning · 6 wordsNo economic sector can withstand that. Claims · 24 wordsThe entire forestry industry back home is in upheaval and going through incredibly tough times, and the government is not doing anything to help. Procedure · 14 wordsI just wanted to mention that as a response to what my colleague said.Procedure Claims · 49 wordsWhat I want to highlight today is the double standard. I have been here since 2019.³ Whenever the auto sector or the energy sector—which the government generally equates with oil and gas—is in trouble, the government is there to help. The economic update includes investments in oil and gas.⁴ Positioning · 8 wordsThat is a normal thing for the government.Positioning Claims · 16 wordsWhen it comes to the more Quebec-centric sectors, however, the government is nowhere to be found. Aside · 4 wordsI am feeling generous, AsideProcedure · 6 wordsso I will split my time.Procedure Aside · 12 wordsI was getting a bit agitated, but I am calming down now.Aside Claims · 32 wordsAs I was saying, there is a double standard, and it is major. As I mentioned on Friday, just for fun, I looked through the economic update to demonstrate this double standard. Reasoning · 14 wordsTo figure out the intentions behind a document, we can simply search for keywords. Positioning · 15 wordsHow many times do the words “forest” or “forestry” appear in the government’s economic update?Positioning Claims · 10 wordsI searched for both terms. They show up six times.⁵ Positioning · 5 wordsHow about the word “aluminum”?Positioning Claims · 27 wordsIt shows up 12 times.⁶ Just for the heck of it and to satisfy the member for Repentigny, I looked up “climate change”; there are five occurrences.⁷ Reasoning · 22 wordsIf we want to hit a home run, to use the federal government’s language, we need to talk about oil and gas. Claims · 19 wordsIf we look up the word “gas” in the latest economic statement, we see that it appears 45 times.⁸ Reasoning · 7 wordsThat is the federal government’s primary interest. Claims · 7 wordsThe word “oil” shows up 153 times.⁹ Reasoning · 16 wordsThat is what the federal government is interested in, as we have seen in recent weeks. Claims · 28 wordsIt offers well-thought-out, deliberate strategies for the oil and gas sector, and it offers absolutely nothing for the forestry and aluminum sectors, which are facing the highest tariffs. Procedure · 6 wordsI will quickly talk about forestry, ProcedureClaims · 73 wordsbecause we submitted a proposal to the government. That was part of the discussions that the Bloc Québécois wanted to have with the government, discussions that did not take place when the economic statement was being prepared. Some people got together to talk about how to solve this problem of countervailing and anti-dumping duties. That is money that is being held at the border, and it has likely exceeded $13 billion to date.¹⁰ Positioning · 26 wordsHow can we get this $13 billion back and ensure that it is invested and that the operations and facilities of the forestry sector are maintained?Positioning Claims · 39 wordsWe wondered why Export Development Canada would not play a leading role and make it possible to buy back a portion of the countervailing and anti-dumping duties at the end of each month. The government refused and ignored that. Procedure · 7 wordsDo members know what I find shocking?Procedure Claims · 16 wordsThe Standing Committee on Natural Resources invited EDC representatives as witnesses, ¹¹and we spoke with them. Procedure · 11 wordsLet us look at the double standard I am talking about.Procedure Claims · 23 wordsIn 2022, EDC invested $9.3 billion in the oil and gas sector in tax benefits and incentives.¹² Yes, just in that one sector. Reasoning · 11 wordsIt is clear where the federal government’s major investments are going.Unearned certainty Claims · 7 wordsIn 2023, the amount was $7.3 billion.¹³ Positioning · 23 wordsIf a fraction of that was going to support the forestry sector, we would be over the moon. We would be very happy.Positioning Claims · 29 wordsHowever, the federal government has never suggested such a thing. For carbon capture and sequestration strategies alone, EDC handed out $102 million in 2023 and $464 million in 2022.¹⁴ Reasoning · 10 wordsObviously, the federal government is focused on the energy sector.Unearned certainty Claims · 64 wordsForestry is definitely the part of the natural resources sector that gets the least attention. The member for Lac-Saint-Jean and I actually did a comprehensive study to figure out what the federal supports for the forestry sector amounted to. The economic benefits for the federal government coming from our region of Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean alone exceed the sum total of federal supports for the forestry sector. Aside · 4 wordsThat is quite something.Aside Positioning · 3 wordsWhy is that?Positioning Reasoning · 16 wordsIt is because the federal government has always been afraid of standing up for softwood lumber. Aside · 12 wordsIt is so shocking that even babies are screaming in the House.Aside Some hon. members: Oh, oh! Mario Simard: Aside · 9 wordsI lost my train of thought. I am sorry.Aside Claims · 257 wordsI was saying that my region is giving more to the federal government in terms of economic benefits that the sum total of supports it is getting for the forestry sector. Federal investments in the forestry sector go through EDC. The government has never stood up for that sector because primary processors are told that they need to go through Global Affairs Canada. Global Affairs Canada then says that no financial supports can be offered because that would be in violation of trade deals with the U.S. and our trade dispute with the U.S. regarding softwood lumber. Consequently, not a single primary processor of softwood lumber can receive any kind of support from the federal government.¹⁵ We took a closer look at this, because it seemed so unfair. For medium-sized businesses in the forestry sector, the primary market is Canada. The primary market is domestic; it is within Quebec. Even businesses that do not export anything to the U.S. cannot get any sort of financial support from the federal government. The federal government will soon be tabling a strategy for retooling the forestry sector so that it can get through the crisis and create more added value. That is what we hear, but in the past 20 years, the federal government has never given so much as a dime to the forestry sector. Now it is wondering why it is so hard to invest in infrastructure and why all the small communities in Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean and the rest of Quebec that depend on forestry are losing their shirts. Positioning · 3 wordsIt is insane.Positioning Claims · 140 wordsSawmills are consolidating. The pulp and paper sector is ailing. Meanwhile, the tariff crisis is going on, but there is no federal government support in any form. Last August, the federal government allocated funding to the forestry sector.¹⁶ Seven or eight months later, no one had yet seen a penny of that money.¹⁷ The program parameters had to be tightened to be able to fund certain forestry companies. I get the impression that the same thing is going to happen in the aluminum sector. Primary aluminum is doing relatively well, because the price is adjusted according to the U.S. Midwest premium.¹⁸ However, aluminum processors, based primarily in Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean, are in an impossible situation. They are currently paying off loans they took out in 2018, ¹⁹and now the government says it is going to allow them to take out new loans. Positioning · 45 wordsWho can operate that way in an industrial sector, constantly taking out loans to cover the cost of tariffs because the government is not doing its job? What was announced may be a good start, but we will see how it plays out over time.Positioning The ask · 49 wordsWhat I personally hope is that the federal government stops investing Quebec’s share in fossil fuels and instead uses it to defend Quebec’s own interests. I hope that our colleagues from Quebec, both in the government and in the Conservative Party, will be ready to support us on this.