SAINT JOHN, N.B. -- The United States ambassador to Canada is defending the proposed softwood lumber agreement between Canada and the U.S. as a positive deal for both countries.
David Wilkins says both sides have compromised and he is confident the deal will be signed soon.
He couldn't say if that will be in time for a July 6 meeting between Prime Minister Harper and President Bush in Washington.
Some lumber industry officials warned this week that Canadian jobs will be lost unless the Conservative government slows down and hammers out a better arrangement.
Washington lawyer Elliot Feldman told the Commons all-party trade committee that the deal doesn't recognize any of Canada's many wins under the North American Free Trade Agreement, and will all but destroy NAFTA.
Wilkins, who spoke today to a meeting of the Maritime Lumber Bureau in Saint John, New Brunswick, said the agreement actually proves that NAFTA does work.
He says the previous rulings forced both sides to the table to settle the dispute.
Diana Blenkhorn, president of the Maritime Lumber Bureau says while no one wants mistakes in the final wording of the agreement, she wants it as soon as possible to stabilize the lumber market.
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=57dff3ed-b3e9-43ee-82da-26b1c118d666&k=67846
But don't worry fellow Canadians. When Wilkens says something everything will be alright.
David Wilkins says both sides have compromised and he is confident the deal will be signed soon.
He couldn't say if that will be in time for a July 6 meeting between Prime Minister Harper and President Bush in Washington.
Some lumber industry officials warned this week that Canadian jobs will be lost unless the Conservative government slows down and hammers out a better arrangement.
Washington lawyer Elliot Feldman told the Commons all-party trade committee that the deal doesn't recognize any of Canada's many wins under the North American Free Trade Agreement, and will all but destroy NAFTA.
Wilkins, who spoke today to a meeting of the Maritime Lumber Bureau in Saint John, New Brunswick, said the agreement actually proves that NAFTA does work.
He says the previous rulings forced both sides to the table to settle the dispute.
Diana Blenkhorn, president of the Maritime Lumber Bureau says while no one wants mistakes in the final wording of the agreement, she wants it as soon as possible to stabilize the lumber market.
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=57dff3ed-b3e9-43ee-82da-26b1c118d666&k=67846
But don't worry fellow Canadians. When Wilkens says something everything will be alright.