The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that Ottawa should appoint a special envoy to mediate a truce in its protracted trade battle with the United States over softwood exports, the chief executive officers of seven lumber producers say. The Globe's Brent Jang writes that in a March 10 letter sent by the CEOs to International Trade Minister Mary Ng, they say an ideal candidate for the envoy position would be David MacNaughton, a former Canadian ambassador to the U.S. "David has the right institutional knowledge, is current on the file and enjoys well-deserved respect and admiration on both sides of the border," the executives say in the letter. The CEOs are also urging the Canadian government to place the softwood file on the agenda for a March 23-24 summit in Ottawa between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden. "We respectfully submit that the upcoming Trudeau/Biden summit is an ideal opportunity for the leaders of both countries to address this issue, to underscore its importance to the North American economy and to publicly set a realistic time frame for an amicable resolution," they say in the letter. Mr. MacNaughton told The Globe, "If drafted, I would be prepared to serve."