Federal Conservative leader Andrew Scheer says he thinks supporting the forest sector is an important topic for voters in BC’s Interior.
Speaking to media during an event in Kamloops today, Scheer says he expected that the Trudeau government could’ve solved the softwood lumber dispute with the U.S. by now while negotiating the new NAFTA.
“Also red tape reduction is a huge issue. We are competing with countries from around the world that have made major moves to streamline government programs and regulations to make sure they’re achieving their goal, of protecting the environment, our health and safety, but that they’re not getting in the way of expansions and operations.”
He says the solution is making sure tax rates are low and that there aren’t barriers from government on future growth.
Meanwhile, while speaking on NL Newsday, Scheer addressed a number of topics of national concern, including Huawei’s potential participation in Canada’s 5G network; he says companies invested in Huawei will adjust if Canada bans it from participating.
“We know the challenge that state-owned enterprises pose. We were calling on the Trudeau government to make this decision months ago to take this off the table, but now it seems to be part of the overall complications with the government of China, because he (Trudeau) failed to take action months ago. I’ve made my position very clear on this, we need to protect our security,” Scheer says.
“Our allies are making similar steps, so I think this is something that the industry will be able to work around. But if we start from the position that our nation’s security comes first, then I think we can have a productive result after establishing that fundamental principle.”
Scheer also commented on the situation at the situation Russia-Ukraine border and Russia annexation of Crimea; he is echoing calls from two of his Conservative MPs that Canada take a leadership role in establishing a peacekeeping role.
He stopped short of explicitly stating how many troops should be sent to the region.
“We have committed in the past that we would support a peacekeeping mission that Canada could play a leadership role in. This is in contrast to the Liberal government’s decision to commit trips to Mali, an action that had no clear Canadian connection. We said, ‘look if there’s a place in the world where Canadian soldiers could play a role in protecting out ally and standing up for international rule of law, it’s in Ukraine.'”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada has placed Ukraine on a list that allows for the sale of arms to that country. Trudeau met in Toronto today with Ukrainian president Volodomyr Zelenskiy.
– with files from Brett Mineer
