Mr. Speaker, tomorrow our federal Minister of Agriculture will meet with his provincial and territorial counterparts to talk about an important issue, interprovincial trade barriers.
Last November, I placed on the order paper Motion No. 601, which supports direct to consumer purchasing of Canadian wine.
Greater access to Canadian wine is a direct benefit to our agriculture community and to the consumer. Smaller wineries across Canada have limited sales channels and the best opportunity for their growth lies in direct marketing strategies. Just ask the wine makers in my riding of Kelowna--Lake Country in the beautiful Okanagan or grassroots organizations like the Alliance of Canadian Wine Consumers that has created the website freemygrapes.ca.
I call on the respective provincial agriculture ministers to give direct to consumer purchasing their full consideration and support Canadian wine producers.
I thank members from both sides of the House who support this change and the member for Fleetwood—Port Kells, and her staff, who has also tabled a motion on this issue.
By working together, we can break down the barriers and support a vibrant Canadian wine industry.