Mr. Speaker, it is my turn to speak to Bill C-47, which is a missed opportunity for the government to introduce measures to help microbreweries in this bill.
Like several of my colleagues, there is in my region a microbrewery that sells a commercial beer under the appellation 8. The administrative region of Abitibi--Témiscamingue being region 08, that is the name the investors gave their beer.
These investors came from Belgium are now well established in our community and in our region and they chose—which is not always easy—to invest in a product that appeared to be very promising, with an image of the region that could perhaps be sold everywhere in Quebec, of course, but also outside Quebec, and which would at the same time be an instrument of commercial development for them and of regional development for us, to promote our region.
However, there are a lot of barriers to lower to enter on this market. Obviously, everybody knows the power of the big brewers; I am speak only of their competitiveness for the time being. I am not speaking of their lobbying power; I will come back to that later.
It is therefore not easy because of course when only small quantities are produced, it is a real challenge to keep prices competitive when distributing a product. Businesses have to find niches in various ways. It is obvious that the distribution costs are much higher when small quantities are produced and the product is not sold in large stores.
This also raised the whole issue of the capacity to produce small quantities, at the beginning, while maintaining the quality of the product, because consumers demand quality, and rightly so. This is a real challenge. These people have successfully dealt with it for a long time, but they have had problems. There were some temporary work stoppages, during which they had to close down.
This is why every little bit counts. In this sense, I remember that a few years ago already, other microbreweries that had united had come here to Ottawa. I met them with my colleague from Saint-Hyacinthe--Bagot. There is nothing new here. These concerns have been known for a long time. We all know that the taxation system penalizes them in many ways and that it impedes their development.
In a very simple way, it would not have been complicated to include in a bill like this one some changes to the tax system that could have given a bit of a boost to these microbreweries. I have mentioned the been known as 8 in my area, but there are others, in some other very well known areas, that have succeeded in breaking into the market and filling a need among customers interested in this type of beer. We have the choice between helping our own businesses or letting imported beers take over the whole market in that niche. For some other countries have chosen to support their microbreweries.
Earlier, I was reading in one of my colleagues' speech that in the United States, for example, the size of a microbrewery's production is defined as one million hectolitres. In the U.S., under the tax system microbreweries are subjected to, the sale of 24 bottles yields $1.12 in taxes whereas here the tax amounts to $4.09 and even more when the beer is sold in a licensed beverage establishment such as a bar; in this case, the tax can amount to $6.12.
As we can see, the tax ratio imposed on our products is four to one and even six to one, compared with what is done in the U.S. which has chosen to support this industry.
There are plenty of interesting statistics in the previous speech. It was clearly demonstrated, however, that our taxation system does not suit the present situation.
Yet, it appears that, on the other side of the House there is considerable silence. I am pretty surprised today to see the hon. member for Abitibi--Baie-James--Nunavuk silent. Surprised because the brewery I referred to, which produces La 8 beer, is in that riding, not in the riding of Témiscamingue. It is, nevertheless, a pleasure for me to stand up for the entire region. The brewery is, to be specific, located in Amos.
I would have liked to hear from the hon. member, or at least for him to show some interest at other stages, but I never heard a peep from him, either in the region or here in the House of Commons, or in committee, to bring forth the point of view of the people who work there and would appreciate some support.
Where are the other members from Quebec? I remember a few years back—at political conventions, one can sit in as an observer—I went with one of my Bloc Quebecois colleagues to a convention of the Liberal Party of Canada. In an effort to promote the products, the delegation had organized a tasting of Quebec beers from microbreweries. That is all very fine and well, but when they are here in parliament, where they have been sent by their constituents and where they have the power to do something, where are they all of a sudden? There is more involved than just organizing tasting sessions. They must also support these people if they want to be able to organize more such sessions in the future, because the product still exists and will have been able to develop. It is all very fine and well to make nice gestures, but they now have an opportunity to do something tangible.
It is too easy to say “No, that was not the initial purpose of Bill C-47”. If it was not that, what else is there on the table? Why is there no other government initiative on the table? The Minister of Finance tells us that they are taking this seriously. He is taking it so seriously that no other legislative measure has been indicated. He did not even indicate anywhere that he was prepared to hold a debate.