Thank you very much.
I'm delighted that interprovincial trade barriers have come into this discussion. And while it's not a direct fiscal issue, in terms of the budget, it's a very important economic issue. The Macdonald Laurier Institute estimates that interprovincial trade barriers cost $8 billion per year. Put another way, getting rid of interprovincial trade barriers would put $1,000 into the pockets of each and every family of four in Canada.
What's kind of crazy is that it's something we're doing to ourselves. The international financial crisis or global economy.... Sometimes we get hit with crises that are not of our own making, but this is something we're doing to ourselves. So even though it's not a direct fiscal hit, Mr. Chair, I think it's something we ought to consider having as part of our report.
On the issue of wines, and your region, the Niagara region, my region, the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, in fact has seven new wineries in the last two years. I hear from our producers on an ongoing basis that they can't sell in New Brunswick. They may be able to sell some wines in Quebec and others in France or Germany, but not in a place like New Brunswick. It just shows you the absolute abject stupidity of some of these regulations.
I would urge you to continue your campaign on this. It's something that affects every province, and takes away jobs and money directly out of the pockets of hard-working Canadian families. I think it's something we ought to as a Parliament, if not specific to this committee, take on with renewed vigour.
I wanted to thank you for your interventions today.