My question for the government leader concerns actions taken by the United States which suggest they may soon take aim at imports of Canadian blueberries. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer recently asked the U.S. International Trade Commission to investigate whether American blueberry producers have been “... caused serious injury or threat ...” by increased blueberry imports.

While Canada may not be the target of any potential trade action, this is a concern as 98% of our blueberry exports go to the United States. British Columbia is one of the top blueberry producers in the world, and our province’s blueberry producers have already experienced a terrible year due to weather-related issues and a severe labour shortage during this crisis that the government failed to manage.

So leader, have any cabinet ministers recently spoken to his or her American counterpart about this specific issue?

I trust your word that you will look into this, leader, but with 19 months and counting since the last details of our fiscal situation and a lack of a fiscal monitor — there are a lot of emergencies. We know the long-term care facilities and other issues are really taking precedence. So it’s not just the blueberry issue. There is a whole list of issues like aluminum, steel, dairy and raspberries that have been targeted by the United States in recent months.

The softwood lumber issue is another one which I have raised in the past but remains unresolved. So if the new NAFTA deal is as successful as you’ve claimed it is, why do we continue to see trade issues arise impacting our exporters? What will your government do to help ensure Canadian berries and other produce are not subject to U.S. tariffs? And specifically, have there been recent conversations and, if so, on what dates, and can we be assured that there will be such conversations?