Mr. Speaker, I regret to inform the House of another casualty of excessive taxation. The Hiram Walker distillery in my riding which employs 137 people and has been in operation since 1970 will close its doors on June 16, nearly 24 years to the day since it opened.
The company cites the declining sales due to what it calls outrageously high and punitive taxes levied by both the federal and provincial governments. I could not agree more.
Hiram Walker is a producer and marketer of Canadian Club, the world's leading premium Canadian whiskey. Hiram Walker and Sons Ltd. is the Canadian business unit of the world's second largest beverage alcohol company. When companies are forced to close facilities as a result of excessive levels of taxation there is definitely a problem.
Our distillers are unable to compete with their American counterparts because of these tax levels. That means lost jobs. When is this-