Fuming Over Lumber
Fred Chartrand, the Canadian Press
Insiders say defected Liberal David Emerson delayed a softwood lumber deal that will score points for Stephen Harper.
Liberals say Emerson blocked deal with U.S. that Conservatives can now take credit for
By James Travers
Toronto Star
Here's the plot of a real-life political thriller: David Emerson defected to the Conservatives this week carrying a multi-billion dollar softwood lumber deal that Liberals, for political reasons, didn't finalize before the federal election.
Furious former colleagues as well as officials and diplomats privy to the secret, backchannel talks insist Emerson was instrumental in delaying a breakthrough in the decades-old dispute that cost thousands of Canadian jobs. They say the former Liberal industry minister worried that the announcement would damage Liberal prospects in key British Columbia ridings. They also claim the powerful Prime Minister's Office was concerned an agreement would stop Paul Martin from using George W. Bush as a campaign punching bag.
Informally discussed on parallel tracks here and in the U.S., the plan calls for Washington to reimburse about 75 per cent of the disputed $5 billion in tariffs imposed on Canadian lumber in return for Ontario and Quebec export quotas. In B.C., there would be higher stumpage fees to keep mills in the province's interior from flooding the U.S. market with cheap wood culled from forests hard-hit by mountain pine beetle infestations.
Those behind-the-scenes talks, led in Washington by Ambassador Frank McKenna and nursed in Ottawa by International Trade Minister Jim Peterson, were rapidly moving the two countries towards brief formal negotiations and a quick deal until they tripped over political realities. At the time, Martin's government was publicly resisting Bush administration pressure to return to the negotiating table, arguing that Canada had won serial tribunal decisions and would settle for nothing less than complete victory and full compensation.
Emerson was among the most outspoken Liberal ministers. In August, he called on Canadians to unite around fair trade.
"Are we going to be stronger than the sum of our parts, or are we going to be endlessly bickering amongst ourselves and allow the bully to basically mop the floor with us?"
But while making noisy demands that the U.S. abide by the letter and spirit of cross-border treaties and by threatening a trade war if it did not, Martin's government was quietly building a Canadian consensus. First, the three biggest softwood provinces tentatively agreed to the hybrid formula and then key parts of the industry were brought into the discussions on the condition of strict confidentiality.
In Washington, McKenna discreetly tested how the U.S. would respond to the hybrid Canadian proposal and Washington's willingness to reimburse tariffs. Conscious of the powerful lumber lobby, U.S. officials were encouraging as well as equally discreet.
By early November, the critical components were in place.
"A deal was there to be had," a source says. "It was easily within reach."
Other sources, including diplomats, confirm the template was complete before Martin's minority government fell. But for reasons Liberals now blame on Emerson, it stepped back from a deal that now falls into Stephen Harper's lap.
That would be a dramatic early success for a new government and for a new trade minister. And that has some of Emerson's former colleagues steaming.
They and others who spoke on condition of anonymity say they accept that the Conservatives will now claim a softwood victory as the spoils of war. But they can't stomach that Emerson is now positioned to take credit for an agreement Liberals say he blocked.
Emerson didn't respond yesterday to specific Star requests to explain his side of a complex story. But partisan and bureaucratic sources say he feared political and lumber industry fallout.
They say Emerson didn't want a less-than-perfect agreement to become a Conservative and NDP target. According to the sources, Emerson, a former top lumber executive, also warned that some companies could object to the higher stumpage fees.
Rather than take an unnecessary political risk, Liberals parked the deal, assuming it could be restarted when they were -- as they wrongly expected -- returned to office. Liberals did well in B.C, gaining one seat, but fared poorly enough in Ontario and Quebec to lose power.
It's not clear if or when the Conservatives learned about the advanced softwood talks. What is known is that the small circle of those aware of the backroom discussions expanded during the final campaign weeks.
In any case, the Conservatives had many reasons to encourage Emerson's defection. Highly respected at home as well as by mandarins here, Emerson, who jokingly calls himself a small-c Liberal, gives the party downtown Vancouver representation and an experienced minister to handle the financially troubled Olympics and Pacific Rim issues.
So less than 24 hours after the election, Emerson and Conservative campaign co-chairman John Reynolds were discussing the defection that caught the national capital by surprise. In retrospect, it wasn't so surprising.
Independently wealthy and more interested in policy than politics, Emerson would find little in opposition to justify the grinding travel between Ottawa and the West Coast. Equally important, Harper was willing to give Emerson the international trade job former Liberal cabinet colleagues say he coveted.
Now that he has it, Emerson gets a second chance to complete the deal that diplomats say requires little more than signatures. But between then and now, he will have to explain his role in a curious delay that handed a Liberal softwood lumber deal to Conservatives
Fred Chartrand, the Canadian Press
Insiders say defected Liberal David Emerson delayed a softwood lumber deal that will score points for Stephen Harper.
Liberals say Emerson blocked deal with U.S. that Conservatives can now take credit for
By James Travers
Toronto Star
Here's the plot of a real-life political thriller: David Emerson defected to the Conservatives this week carrying a multi-billion dollar softwood lumber deal that Liberals, for political reasons, didn't finalize before the federal election.
Furious former colleagues as well as officials and diplomats privy to the secret, backchannel talks insist Emerson was instrumental in delaying a breakthrough in the decades-old dispute that cost thousands of Canadian jobs. They say the former Liberal industry minister worried that the announcement would damage Liberal prospects in key British Columbia ridings. They also claim the powerful Prime Minister's Office was concerned an agreement would stop Paul Martin from using George W. Bush as a campaign punching bag.
Informally discussed on parallel tracks here and in the U.S., the plan calls for Washington to reimburse about 75 per cent of the disputed $5 billion in tariffs imposed on Canadian lumber in return for Ontario and Quebec export quotas. In B.C., there would be higher stumpage fees to keep mills in the province's interior from flooding the U.S. market with cheap wood culled from forests hard-hit by mountain pine beetle infestations.
Those behind-the-scenes talks, led in Washington by Ambassador Frank McKenna and nursed in Ottawa by International Trade Minister Jim Peterson, were rapidly moving the two countries towards brief formal negotiations and a quick deal until they tripped over political realities. At the time, Martin's government was publicly resisting Bush administration pressure to return to the negotiating table, arguing that Canada had won serial tribunal decisions and would settle for nothing less than complete victory and full compensation.
Emerson was among the most outspoken Liberal ministers. In August, he called on Canadians to unite around fair trade.
"Are we going to be stronger than the sum of our parts, or are we going to be endlessly bickering amongst ourselves and allow the bully to basically mop the floor with us?"
But while making noisy demands that the U.S. abide by the letter and spirit of cross-border treaties and by threatening a trade war if it did not, Martin's government was quietly building a Canadian consensus. First, the three biggest softwood provinces tentatively agreed to the hybrid formula and then key parts of the industry were brought into the discussions on the condition of strict confidentiality.
In Washington, McKenna discreetly tested how the U.S. would respond to the hybrid Canadian proposal and Washington's willingness to reimburse tariffs. Conscious of the powerful lumber lobby, U.S. officials were encouraging as well as equally discreet.
By early November, the critical components were in place.
"A deal was there to be had," a source says. "It was easily within reach."
Other sources, including diplomats, confirm the template was complete before Martin's minority government fell. But for reasons Liberals now blame on Emerson, it stepped back from a deal that now falls into Stephen Harper's lap.
That would be a dramatic early success for a new government and for a new trade minister. And that has some of Emerson's former colleagues steaming.
They and others who spoke on condition of anonymity say they accept that the Conservatives will now claim a softwood victory as the spoils of war. But they can't stomach that Emerson is now positioned to take credit for an agreement Liberals say he blocked.
Emerson didn't respond yesterday to specific Star requests to explain his side of a complex story. But partisan and bureaucratic sources say he feared political and lumber industry fallout.
They say Emerson didn't want a less-than-perfect agreement to become a Conservative and NDP target. According to the sources, Emerson, a former top lumber executive, also warned that some companies could object to the higher stumpage fees.
Rather than take an unnecessary political risk, Liberals parked the deal, assuming it could be restarted when they were -- as they wrongly expected -- returned to office. Liberals did well in B.C, gaining one seat, but fared poorly enough in Ontario and Quebec to lose power.
It's not clear if or when the Conservatives learned about the advanced softwood talks. What is known is that the small circle of those aware of the backroom discussions expanded during the final campaign weeks.
In any case, the Conservatives had many reasons to encourage Emerson's defection. Highly respected at home as well as by mandarins here, Emerson, who jokingly calls himself a small-c Liberal, gives the party downtown Vancouver representation and an experienced minister to handle the financially troubled Olympics and Pacific Rim issues.
So less than 24 hours after the election, Emerson and Conservative campaign co-chairman John Reynolds were discussing the defection that caught the national capital by surprise. In retrospect, it wasn't so surprising.
Independently wealthy and more interested in policy than politics, Emerson would find little in opposition to justify the grinding travel between Ottawa and the West Coast. Equally important, Harper was willing to give Emerson the international trade job former Liberal cabinet colleagues say he coveted.
Now that he has it, Emerson gets a second chance to complete the deal that diplomats say requires little more than signatures. But between then and now, he will have to explain his role in a curious delay that handed a Liberal softwood lumber deal to Conservatives
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