Mr. Speaker, I would like to take advantage of the opportunity this afternoon to thank the Minister of Finance who, in his budget of May 2, 2006, changed the excise tax on beer produced by microbreweries.
This tax adjustment had been requested for more than five years and will help these brewers take their rightful place on the highly competitive beer market.
Among other things, this tax holiday will enable them to create more than 2,500 jobs all across Canada. The microbrewery proprietors in my region, who helped me become very familiar with this issue, asked me to insist on its inclusion in our budget and have shown their appreciation and asked me to thank the House for resolving this.
These sentiments have been echoed all across Canada through their association. I therefore thank the Minister of Finance.