Minister of Nothing To Do With Canfor

So that big catch the Tories made? The Liberal star who was going to single-handedly solve the softwood lumber dispute? Uh, maybe not...

Questions are being raised about whether David Emerson, the newly appointed Trade Minister will be able to work on the softwood lumber file, the most pressing file in his department... Conservatives defending the decision to take the newly minted Conservative are arguing that Emerson, a former executive with Canfor, will help settle the softwood lumber dispute with the U.S. However, on November 11, 2004, Emerson signed a public declaration of recusal with the ethics commissioner's office forbidding himself from being involved in matters that directly involve Canfor. Canfor is Canada's largest forestry company and one of the companies specifically named in the anti-dumping case initiated by the U.S. in the softwood dispute. "As former president and CEO of Canfor Corporation, I have an entitlement to an unregistered pension plan, partially funded through a Retirement Compensation Agreement," Emerson's declaration of recusal states. "In order to prevent the appearance of a conflict of interest situation from arising, I have undertaken, in the exercise of my duties and responsibilities to abstain from any participation in discussions or decision-making processes involving direct dealings with Canfor Corporation, its subsidiaries and affiliates." The softwood lumber dispute consists of two separate legal cases involving anti-dumping and counterveiling duty measures against Canadian lumber exports. Anti-dumping investigations concern the pricing practices of individual companies. The firms and not the federal government are party to the investigations. The US Department of Commerce issued anti-dumping questionnaires to six Canadian companies, including Canfor. Duff Conacher of the public interest group Democracy Watch says Emerson cannot work on the softwood lumber file without being in a conflict. Conacher says because of Emerson's financial interest in Canfor he should not be trade minister. "The best thing is to be totally separated from it and have ministers that don't have these ties that raise conflict of interest issues, especially if it's a minister who has switched parties and caused other ethical questions as David Emerson has," Conacher said in an interview with PoliticsWatch.