Agriculture committee  We do not have a federal.... CVA got an application through GF2, but not for a national scope, and we're looking more for a reinvestment of the dollars that are already derived through taxes that are provided to the federal government.

Agriculture committee  I'd have to break that down. I apologize that I don't have that for today.

Agriculture committee  The liquor board taxes are all within that, so there's a 60% markup if you sell through the liquor board as compared to selling through your own wine retail store, and within that is the federal tax as well.

Agriculture committee  That's about it.

Agriculture committee  Respectfully, I think it is. Certainly, what we need to be doing is cultivating that consumer demand for our product. That consumer demand is what's going to open up those liquor boards. In a marketing initiative, which we're asking for, we're asking you to reinvest as we have invested in this country, in the land here in Niagara, and the land in Ontario, as growers, as farmers, as winemakers.

Agriculture committee  Thank you.

Agriculture committee  I think I mentioned it in my presentation. I'm sorry. I have only a minute or so to respond, so to not repeat myself, what I pointed out and the Canadian Vintners Association has pointed out is that many of these foreign wines come with the support of their home markets. Most of them have a fantastic marketing program and they're getting that kind of support.

Agriculture committee  Absolutely. I think even with interprovincial trade barriers, the big thing that we think we need to focus on is getting Canadians to purchase Ontario wine. I agree that we can eliminate one thing called interprovincial trade barriers, but we need a marketing strategy that promotes Canadian wines across Canada.

Agriculture committee  Absolutely. I think what you're seeing is an emerging of different wine regions. Who would have thought we would even grow vinifera grapes in the north compared to California, say, or other countries? We have the capacity. We have the land base. We're in a protected greenbelt here in Niagara, for example, so the land is dedicated.

Agriculture committee  Yes, they are.

Agriculture committee  They don't operate all the time. It's only when we get cold weather.

Agriculture committee  Are you asking me to comment?

Agriculture committee  Okay. No, I think that alternatively, if there is trade.... One thing about having trade barriers, obviously, is the reduction in tax or in any taxes that would be paid among the provinces. If there's any avenue for wine to travel freely, whether it's imported or domestic, a good business person will take advantage of that.

Agriculture committee  First of all, I would say that grapes are a perishable product, so they're pretty tough to export. We do a bit of export to the United States in terms of juice grapes, but not wine grapes. The demand is really not there because it's a perishable product. We would certainly love to see our market share for our domestic products grow right now.

Agriculture committee  Thank you for the opportunity to present the views of the Grape Growers of Ontario on, hopefully, promoting growth and reducing interprovincial barriers. My comments today are on behalf of the Grape Growers of Ontario, which represents more than 500 growers on 17,000 acres of vineyards in three different designated viticultural areas in Ontario.