Released on April 2, 2009
In the wake of Ottawa's response to a Canada-U.S. Softwood Lumber Agreement (SLA) tribunal ruling, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Bill Boyd says the Government of Saskatchewan will continue to vigorously defend Saskatchewan's forest industry.
Boyd says the province will continue to press the federal government to respond to the tribunal ruling in a way that ensures the Saskatchewan industry - which has endured unprecedented hardships in recent years - faces no further harm.
"Saskatchewan did not exceed the export quota and therefore received no benefit," Boyd said. "Our industry should not be potentially penalized for something it did not do."
In its submission to the tribunal, the U.S. Government noted that Saskatchewan was the only affected province that was below its quota.
The tribunal ruled Canada 'breached' the SLA by the way it calculated export quota levels in the first half of 2007 for ‘Option B' provinces (Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec). However, all sides agree Saskatchewan's exports did not exceed its quotas at any time during that period.
Yesterday, in response to the tribunal's ruling, the federal government announced it has made available to the U.S. a payment of $46.7 million Canadian as a "cure" for a breach of its obligations under that agreement.
In addition, Canada has indicated that it will request that same tribunal to confirm that this lump sum payment is an adequate cure for the breach and that no additional export charge needs to be imposed.
In the event that the tribunal rules against Canada, and an additional charge on the softwood lumber industry is required, the federal government has indicated that it will comply as directed.
"Our government will continue to monitor this very closely to ensure the interests of our province and industry are well represented," Boyd said.
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For more information, contact:
Tyler McMurchy
Intergovernmental Affairs
Regina
Phone: 306-787-5193
Cell: 306-537-7051