B.C. Liberal leader says all Canadians involved in U.S. softwood offer balked
VANCOUVER — British Columbia’s Liberal leader says everyone involved in a potential softwood lumber agreement said No when the United States offered a “lousy” deal that would have cost her province 20,000 forestry jobs.
Christy Clark said Thursday that talks with former president Barack Obama ended because of opposition by the prime minister, the international trade minister and lumber employers in B.C.
“Everybody in Canada recognized that the deal of the Obama administration stank. And the only people that seemed to think that it might have been a good deal are the Americans, naturally,” she said.
“They would have cut our exports by one third, they would have cut our jobs in softwood by one third,” Clark said.