Letter to the editor

A7

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Speak Up

In Question Period last week the government was asked what they plan to do to assist the Forestry Industry; the response was less than thrilling. The Minister of Natural Resources, David Anderson, replied that they got "the softwood lumber deal done". Translation: we have no plan.

The federal government is considering a unilateral federal bailout for the auto industry. Shouldn't any bailout that helps workers be for all industries and not just the Big Three North American auto companies – who failed because of bad business decisions.

If Ottawa moves to aid the automotive and aerospace sectors, as promised in last week's Throne Speech, it had better pay equal attention to New Brunswick's beleaguered forestry industry, which has suffered years of mill closings, layoffs and falling demand despite a superior product.

You can't pick one industry. You can't say you're going to deal with just autoworkers and aerospace. Workers should be treated equally because it's workers who are paying for this bailout.

Government needs to focus on the long-term viability of his industry. In the forestry industry a bailout should not be for individual mills, but rather a comprehensive strategy to get credit markets working again, competitive taxes, infrastructure and rail transportation that work for resource industries, and investment in research and technology.

It's not enough to just provide assistance to people losing their jobs. The government has to invest so that people can keep their jobs.

Keith Vickers