Agriculture committee  I certainly think you're going to see the pace of product development or innovation within the category get a lot quicker. Molson Coors came out with Coors Light Iced T last year, which is a new line. There was the lime; that is a new and creative category. I think the beer category as a whole is really on the cusp of being identified as a product that matches incredibly well with food.

Agriculture committee  That's absolutely a provincial issue. Obviously, I'm fascinated by the efficiencies of The Beer Store model. Although they may be accused of certain things, they really do list any brand for any brewer at any price that brewer wants, in any one of their stores. They do accommodate the beer category extremely well.

Agriculture committee  Well, the food and drug regulations start to apply once that product does cross a provincial boundary or for product coming into the country. In Ontario, you could have a definition for beer that fits with Ontario's Liquor Licence Act, and you can distribute it as beer within the province.

Agriculture committee  Certainly, the provinces would be. The brewers may—

Agriculture committee  They've made that investment.

Agriculture committee  That's right.

Agriculture committee  I could spend a number of hours talking about that. The short answer is yes, those things do apply. We are not an open country when it comes to moving a food like beer across interprovincial boundaries. The challenges each province presents for a brewer are different, but they're certainly there.

Agriculture committee  That's an alcohol issue.

Agriculture committee  Absolutely, and we want to call all these things beer and have a compositional standard that is flexible enough that microbrewers can innovate within that category and not have to call it something other than a beer, like a “non-standard alcoholic beverage”, or something like that, which is what the alternative would be.

Agriculture committee  It has to be part of the mix. If you have a specific region you want to sell into, you're going to be looking to establish your brewery in the one that gives you most access to those markets. It does drive investment decisions. For instance, in Ontario, if you want to get access to The Beer Store directly and not have to go through the Liquor Control Board, you have to have a brewery in the province.

Agriculture committee  You'd have to look at historical context and you'd have to look at it in total, because there are companies that have said, “All right, I'm going to make this investment.” Now, if you back that away and remove those restrictions, those companies that have already invested are at a disadvantage.

Agriculture committee  I would say that the industry would be very interested in seeing a hop industry return to Canada. We certainly have the land and the agricultural ability to do it. The issue came down to innovations in pest management control, innovations in hop varieties, and consolidation within the hop industry that affected pricing.

Agriculture committee  I can highlight the issue with some specific examples. Within the food and drug regulations there is a definition for beer and there is a definition for ale, stout, and porter. They're the same, but there are two different definitions. When you want to put a Belgian-style wheat beer or an India Pale Ale, it creates confusion for people who are reviewing the labels at the liquor boards across the provinces or even within the Canadian Food Inspection Agency—not confusion, but it requires extra clarification.

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Good morning, honourable committee members. On behalf of the 25 brewing members that the Brewers Association of Canada represents, I would like to thank the committee for inviting me to appear today to discuss some of the supply chain challenges confronting Canada’s brewers.