Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would like to add one tiny little technical detail.
Mr. Deltell, you mentioned a comparison with a particular adjustment mechanism for the previous excise duties that existed at the beginning of the 1980s. I would like to add a clarification. The automatic inflation mechanism that is being put in place by the government here is based on the general consumer price index. The one at the beginning of the 1980s applied only to alcoholic products. So, as a result, there was a kind of escalating, spiralling effect, so to speak.
That is not what is on the table here. The use of the consumer price index, as proposed in the bill, matches the model currently being used for tobacco products. It is also used in income tax matters to make sure that a number of minimum thresholds are maintained.
The particular feature of using fixed excise duty rates is that they are expressed in current dollars per litre. If you do not adjust them to take into account inflation over time, there is an actual reduction. Often, that reality is not seen in provinces with monopolies, with organizations like liquor corporations, because their profit margins are expressed in percentages.
Thank you.