OTTAWA — Progressive Conservative Leader Joe Clark plans to talk farm subsidies, pipelines and missile defense when he meets U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney on a visit to Washington this week.
But the softwood lumber dispute will likely dominate the discussion scheduled for Wednesday, Clark said.
“This is a matter where the uncertainty over what might happen in the long term is having a devastating effect on Canadian employers,” he said in an interview Sunday from Saanich, British Columbia
The Tory leader said he met Saturday with several representatives of the British Columbia softwood lumber industry, including smaller operators who have shut mills and laid off employees.
Officials from both sides of the border will meet Sept. 18-20 in Ottawa to talk about the disagreement, which intensified last month when the U.S. administration imposed a 19.3-per-cent penalty tariff on Canadian softwood lumber.
U.S. lumber producers allege Canadian softwood is unfairly subsidized by low government royalties for the right to harvest timber.
Clark said he will press the U.S. to agree to Canada’s attempt to fast-track a complaint at the World Trade Organization, while pointing out American farm subsidies continue to rise.
The meeting has been confirmed for Wednesday, said Marie Chantale Lepine, Clark’s press secretary.
