moved for leave to introduce Bill C-456, An Act to amend the Excise Act, 2001 (spirits).
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River for seconding my bill to reduce the excise tax on spirits by $1 per litre of absolute alcohol.
As you know, Mr. Speaker, Windsor is home to a distillery, as is my riding of Selkirk—Interlake. It is a major economic factor within our local communities.
Crown Royal, the most famous of all the Canadians whiskies, is completely made in Gimli, Manitoba, and is the number one export whisky around the world.
There are only four major whiskies in the world and Canadian rye whisky is world-renowned and is an iconic part of our heritage and culture.
Unfortunately, when we drink a rye and Coke, we are paying twice as much in excise tax versus beer or wine. Therefore, it is about time that we provide the same type of tax breaks to the distillery industry, so that spirits can be manufactured, jobs created and more agriculture products bought from our farmers. Corn, wheat, barley and of course rye are major components of our whisky.
Therefore, it is important that we provide this tax incentive by reducing it by $1 per litre of alcohol. I would ask that the government act upon this as soon as we return to balanced budgets and the Government of Canada's books are in order.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)