Roger Melanson

The New Brunswick minister responsible for trade policy is defending the Gallant government’s decision to use taxpayer money to hire another expert to look at the forestry market in its ongoing fight against U.S. duties on softwood lumber exports. Although the industry had called for such a review to refute the “inaccurate and unfounded conclusions” of the auditor general’s 2015 report, which the U.S. Commerce Department used to argue the province was providing unfair subsidies to local companies, Roger Melanson denies the review is itself a form of subsidy. “We have 22,000 jobs in New Brunswick depending on this industry. It’s a major, very important sector,” particularly in rural areas, he said. “So there’s a lot at stake here.” The review has to be independent and objective, not paid for by industry, he said.