Mr. Speaker, earlier in this debate we were talking about tourism. It is a very important part of the economy in my riding. We have already lost more than 20% of the tourism-related small businesses in my riding. It is a great concern. Almost half of them are teetering on the brink.
As I said before, what anchors tourism in my riding in the Okanagan Valley is the wine industry. One of the few things that I can support in this motion is the clause that mentions the escalator tax: the excise tax. This is a tax that Canadian wineries did not have to pay at all a year ago, but the Liberal government forced them to start paying it as of this summer. It made that decision. We have been waiting for a government decision on something to replace that, so that these wineries can survive.
We need a trade-friendly replacement for supports to give them the support they need and to replace the excise tax they now have to pay.