I am sorry, Mr. Speaker, for not using the name of the riding of London West. I should have done that. Again, I apologize.
Still, as chair of the finance committee, she received a letter signed by a Mr. Morrison, who is not a member of this House, so I can say his name. He is the president and CEO of the Brewers Association of Canada.
He made some very important statements in his latter. First, he said:
We will support any measure aimed at attaining this objective--
A reduction in the excise tax for small brewers.
--but in light of our prior agreement with the government--
What prior agreement with the government? Where was that decision made? Was it at a fundraiser for the Liberal Party of Canada? We do not know. He added:
--we cannot support amendments which would include beer in Bill C-47.
No substantive argument was ever made to exclude the tax on microbrewery beer from the bill. We were always told that Bill C-47 is not expected to deal with beer. However, beer is defined in the bill. So, it was supposed to be addressed somewhere.
Then we were told that we had to wait for further studies. In this regard, we have all the necessary elements to correct the situation, particularly since there is a sense of urgency. The member for Berthier—Montcalm demonstrated this earlier. Several microbreweries have disappeared in the last few years, and others will be forced to shut down if changes are not made immediately to allow these beers to have a share of the Quebec, Canadian, American and European markets.
Everywhere else, including in the United States—and we know that the U.S. is the mecca of capitalism—it was determined that there could be a different tax for microbreweries: 9 ¢ a litre for them compared to 28 ¢ a litre for large breweries. We know full well that microbreweries cannot, in terms of production costs, compete with those who are engaged in mass production, but there is room on the market for microbrewery products. It would even be very beneficial for us if we allowed them to be successful.
In my own riding, the Brugel microbrewery, which brews a most original beer, is an asset to the tourism industry in our region. People have also started to produce very original cheeses to attract tourists and encourage them to stay. This microbrewery wants to sell its product on different markets. It is a known fact that competition for space on grocery stores shelves is fierce. Profit margins are important. Some grocers are willing to sell that particular product. However, those who buy beer may be willing to pay a bit more to get an original local product, but not as much as what would result from the position taken by the government on Bill C-47.
I know that the Secretary of State for Rural Development is currently touring the country telling people that the government is concerned about rural development. I would like the government to take real action, one single measure that would allow microbreweries to capture their market, by following up on the amendment that was proposed. There is no rush, nothing to prevent us from taking some time to examine the proposal. Nothing prevents the Standing Committee on Finance from studying this question as a priority. We could come up with a solution very quickly. We could simply lower the excise tax. A change in the excise tax would not turn the whole Excise Tax Act upside down, it would simply allow a product to be more competitive.
Of course, the status quo allows the big breweries to increase their market share. For the average person, having 96% of the market share, rather than 95% may not seem to be so important, but for shareholders and companies that want to make profits, each percentage point of the market share represents $17 million. Yet, this same $17 million does not create many more additional jobs. For microbreweries, however, every time a microbrewery sets up shop in a rural or small community, these one, two , three or four jobs add up to one or two more families in town. This is the type of choice we as a society have to make.
We do not want to prevent competition or to stop anyone from gaining access to the market. Quite the opposite. I think the government's position is similar to that of Mr. Morrison, which I find unacceptable. For a reasonably intelligent man, he is showing a total lack of respect.
On one hand, they agree that the excise tax imposed on small breweries should be lowered, but on the other hand they maintain that Bill C-47 is not the place to do it. They argue that more studies are needed and things have to done. They believe we should wait some more. We always hear the same old song when people are against legislation. They say, “We will set up a committee”. Or “We will develop a position and try to define something, and then we will decide. We will make a decision in six months, a year, two years or five years”. But six months or a year down the road, another five, ten or fifteen microbreweries will have closed their doors. The big brewers will have gained another 1% or 2% of the market. And in the end, we will be very unhappy with the results.
When the Bloc Quebecois stands up for these people, it does so because it feels that it is important to care about our small businesses, about these people who are earning a living in our regions and who try to compete. We try to alleviate the negative impacts of globalization.
The beer industry went from a highly regulated market, where each province was subjected to certain restrictions and could not easily export beer in the other provinces, to a slightly broader market. We made room for large businesses. Why not take the time now to allow microbreweries, as they did everywhere else in the world, to have their share of the market and be able to compete with other businesses?
Yesterday, I heard two Liberal members address this issue when I was here in the House. Afterwards, they came and said “You are right. We do not know why our government is not doing something, but we will still vote with it”. We must make a plea to Liberal members and tell them “Check in your ridings to see whether there are microbreweries. Go and ask them if it would be worth waiting one, two, three and even up to six months to settle the issue of microbreweries, so that by the summer they would know that they will be guaranteed a share of the market and be able to compete with American and European microbreweries”.
This would ensure that the bill and our review of the Excise Act are exhaustive. We will then be in a position to all vote together, after completing the work that was not done.
This is why I am urging all members to support the amendment of the hon. member for Drummond.