Mr. Speaker, in my riding, the wine industry is an important part of the economy, and it has been directly affected by COVID. Most of the smaller wineries here rely on sales to restaurants, direct-to-consumer online sales and sales to visitors. When restaurants closed and tourists stopped coming, these wineries were significantly impacted. While online sales increased, the B.C. wine industry still faces interprovincial trade barriers that ban that practice. That must change.
In the middle of the pandemic, the federal government removed one of the most critical supports for the industry by cancelling the excise tax exemption for Canadian wines. It must quickly replace that with trade legal support, such as that proposed by Wine Growers Canada.
I want to close by mentioning the untimely passing of David Wilson, the former chair of the Canadian Vintners Association. Mr. Wilson always brought intelligent conversation and fine Okanagan wines to our meetings in Ottawa. He left us too soon, and he will be missed.