Finance committee  I want to make it clear, first and foremost, to assure the committee today, that we support the bill. What we've asked specifically to be added to the bill is that if this bill is amended, that it only be amended to allow for 100% Canadian-made wine. I recognize that may be a WTO challenge, but I've been assured—if you read the comments from the last hearing, and you were here—that in fact everybody is saying it won't be a challenge and we don't need to worry about it.

Finance committee  Thank you very much. The Grape Growers of Ontario support Bill C-311. We welcome the all-party support for expanding the cultivation and use of Canadian wine grapes. The legislation is well-intentioned, and if properly implemented, could be very helpful to our members. The excellent reputation of Canadian wines is spreading around the world.

Agriculture committee  I could comment on the ice wine issue. We want to believe that Mr. Ritz will ensure that our ice wine remains a product of the highest value, not to be dumbed down by other countries that may not use the methods we do to produce ice wine in Ontario. This value is important to protect.

Agriculture committee  Absolutely. That's why we're looking forward to national standards right across the province and the country.

Agriculture committee  I think one of the important things is that people don't realize that we are solely dependent on a market for our vines from another country. We need to be able to grow our own rootstock in this country based on the climate we have. As I think I emphasized right in the beginning, a bottle of wine grown in this country brings a lot more value than a bottle of wine that's brought into this country.

Agriculture committee  International and Canadian blend? I wish I had a picture. A big tanker comes up the Welland Canal. You take a fire hose, you stick it in the tanker, and then you pump the wine into another tanker. Then they take it to a bottling plant and they put in 75% imported and add 25% Canadian.

Agriculture committee  Significantly, because of the type of grape. Labrusca or juice grapes are about $300 to the tonne compared to wine grapes, which now can go anywhere from $1,200 to $2,400 a tonne.

Agriculture committee  Trade barriers.

Agriculture committee  Most of our exports are in ice wine, so a lot of that goes into Europe, but again, it has a lot to do with what is allowed in European trade agreements as well as in China. We export a lot of ice wine to China. You're probably going to be faced with some questions about potential trade challenges to ice wine, and how ice wine grapes are actually produced, because obviously there are some international standards for ice wine that we need to meet.

Agriculture committee  I'm sure you're familiar with the Canadian Vintners Association, who presented here. They do a lot of work, but I would say one of the most important elements for us, given the cost of export, is that we don't even own our own market at home. As a Canadian industry, first and foremost, our growth opportunities are right in our own backyard, and we're being limited by policies, international—

Agriculture committee  Obviously there are opportunities to export, but in relative terms, in terms of the ability to be successful and profitable, the opportunities are at home first.

Agriculture committee  The bill that is before the House with regard to interprovincial trade barriers, as I understand it, is for personal use, and there is no limitation on what type of wine you can bring in. It's not limited to domestic. We're not afraid of the opportunity, though, to be able to showcase our wine in another province.

Agriculture committee  No, they don't. Exactly.

Agriculture committee  I think that's a good question for all of us. I would say from my perspective of growing grapes in Ontario that our whole focus has been not to drop a grape on the ground in the province of Ontario because we're not able to sell our grapes to the people who are making wine in our own province.

Agriculture committee  Some export sales are actually ice wine. Ice wine is probably the only sufficient export market. Obviously the whole ice wine market is important to us, but the difference is we have two types of wine. One is called Canadian 100%, and the other is international and Canadian blend.