Mr. Speaker, Quebec and Canadian microbreweries are facing stiff competition from large Canadian breweries and foreign microbreweries. In their countries, these microbreweries benefit from an excise tax reduction. Since there is no such preferential tax treatment in Canada, half of Canadian microbreweries have shut down over the past five years.
Is the Minister of Finance waiting for the 48 remaining microbreweries to fold before deciding to reduce its excise tax?