Mr. Speaker, it is my turn to speak in this debate. When we ran in the last three elections as Bloc Quebecois MPs, we made a commitment to defend the interests of Quebec. The interests of Quebec sometimes coincide with those of Canada. This is the case for the microbreweries, because there are some outside Quebec. My concern today is to defend the interests of Quebec's microbreweries.
When we travel to other countries, we always want to try products that are typical of the country we are visiting. We do not necessarily want to have things we could get here. The same thing goes, I imagine, for people from elsewhere when they come to a province, to Quebec, or a specific region of Quebec. They want to taste something typical.
I remember my days as executive assistant to Jean Garon, Minister of Agriculture at the time. He was interested in regional cuisine. For me, beer is sort of linked to regional cuisine, because there are beers that are typical of a region as well. People want to experience the differences, want to see a variety of products, want to choose and encourage local products, first of all for their own pleasure but also to encourage the microbreweries.
As Quebecers, whether we are from one region or another, when we tour various regions, as many of my colleagues do, we always try to see what is specific to a given region in Quebec.
Five years ago, there were 21 microbreweries. We can say that in nearly every region in Quebec except maybe downtown Montreal and downtown Quebec City, there was a microbrewery, a beer produced by a microbrewer we could drink and appreciate.
At the same time, there is no need to go somewhere else. You can consume a product without having to go somewhere, and appreciate its regional flavour and the flavour of the region.
This industry could have flourished, but in view of the current situation made to stay by this bill overlooking, neglecting this sector, even those who felt like starting a microbrewery are giving up today. They are giving up because of the deplorable action of this government who is ignoring this sector.
I want to congratulate and thank the member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot and also the member for Drummond who did such a fantastic job in the Standing Committee on Finance and the caucus over the past few weeks, especially after what happened recently at the Standing Committee on Finance. They brought the matter to our attention because they followed the work of this committee closely, in this instance we could say the lack of work of certain members of the committee since the chair of the committee decided unilaterally that it would not be dealt with.
I want to congratulate both my colleagues because they really brought the matter to the attention of the Bloc Quebecois caucus as a whole so that we could study it. We saw the impact it could have. Since then, we all have heard from people who told us about their concerns and the consequences this could have.
There is something I would like to stress in particular, namely parliamentary democracy. Last week, I heard my colleagues ask questions in the House nearly on a daily basis.
I took the constant repetitions as purely insulting. Some said: “Well, there is no problem, there is no conflict of interest, there is not even an apparent conflict of interest given that neither microbreweries, breweries, or beer will be affected”. What a misleading way to answer, when we asked for and are still asking for beer to be included. The answer is still: “No, no, there is no conflict of interest. It is not in the bill”.
Well, I heard my colleagues, the hon. members for Saint-Hyacinthe--Bagot and for Drummond, at second reading. They were both in agreement. The Bloc Quebecois agreed to a modernized Excise Tax Act. This was discussed a long time ago. We then said to ourselves: “At last, here is positive legislation. Something will be done”. The bill was agreed to in principle at second reading. But, through some twisted procedure at committee, we learned that beer was excluded.
There is another aspect. Microbreweries in Canada and in Quebec—because they are both in the same situation—will not be treated the same as foreign microbreweries which have been bought up by big breweries in Canada and Quebec. We all want what is fair. This is patently unfair. Elsewhere in the world—we could name various countries—, in the United States for instance, the tax is 9¢ a hectolitre instead of 28¢.
Under the present rules, the United States, as well as WTO, recognize that an exception can be made for microbreweries. That is how it works in Europe. However, in the case of our neighbour to the south, with which we do the most trade, we realize that they are finding a way around this and we see microbreweries shutting down every month, so that now only about a dozen are still operating, according the hon. members for Saint-Hyacinthe--Bagot and for Drummond.
We are today sounding the alarm in order to save those microbreweries. Members of the Bloc Quebecois are therefore expressing their solidarity with those owners, the people working at that level. We do not necessarily have something against big breweries, but we must speak up against the unfair treatment given to microbreweries. We are standing up today in solidarity with the nine or ten remaining microbreweries, even if there is no such brewery in my immediate area, Chaudière-Appalaches.
There was one in Beauce, but it is now closed. We have not heard the member for Beauce on that subject in the House. Like my colleague, the member for Bas-Richelieu—Nicolet—Bécancour, I am puzzled by the silence of the Quebec Liberal members who, normally, should also defend Quebec's interests, although in this particular instance, they have not uttered a single word.
However, members from other provinces of Canada are also not defending their region, are not speaking up in the House. I have not heard a single one today. I am not talking about those who are absent. I am talking about those who made statements.
Right now, only Bloc Quebecois members are defending the interests of microbreweries. It clearly shows that the Bloc Quebecois is committed to the interests of Quebec.
Some people criticize us because we talk about sovereignty. We did not talk about sovereignty today. We talked about important Quebec interests that could be settled through federal legislation. Sadly, we note that Liberal members and, up to a point, the other parties who should follow on our example and defend the interests of small businesses like microbreweries, are not doing that. It is sad.