Mr. Speaker, I certainly recognized at the very beginning that beer was not in the bill and that is what I said. I also appreciate the disappointment on the part of my colleagues on the opposite side in this sense, and I agree.
As I mentioned in my remarks, there may be some special problems with respect to the micro-beer industry and the beer industry at large that require special attention by the government, and that may have led to the government not including it in the bill. It is certainly true that this bill is not about the excise tax on beer and I would support the reduction.
However what is important here is that the government move swiftly because, and I think all of us would agree, we have to protect these quality of life industries wherever we find them. If I heard correctly what has been said from the other side, the fear is that the microbrewery industry in Canada may be in jeopardy. We all know that there is a temptation by government, when it gets lobbied, to sit on things for maybe a year or two or three or four.
If the message coming from my colleagues on the opposite side is to move swiftly, then it is a good message.