Finance committee  Thank you very much for inviting me here once again to present on behalf of the Canadian Beverage Association, which represents the non-alcoholic, non-dairy beverage industry. We believe it is essential as a supercluster-identified sector that we engage with the government and Parliament to help create Canadian jobs, encourage economic growth, and drive investment.

Finance committee  The beverage industry has long been trying to innovate and bring new products to the market in order to diversify the portfolio of products that are on the shelf for Canadians, but also to continue to drive the lowering of calories in the choices that Canadians can make. The great thing about the changing of this regulation is that we're not trying to push a rock uphill.

Finance committee  Yes, I would completely agree.

Finance committee  Zero. We're not asking for anything. We are asking for our industry to keep innovating and bringing new products to the market and protecting the 60,000 well-paying, pensioned jobs across the country. A little known fact is that Coca-Cola and Pepsi, for example, two of our larger members, have the largest facilities in North America, located in Brampton and Mississauga.

Finance committee  We want to protect those jobs. We want to protect those investments. Once those production facilities go south of the border, they don't come back.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the opportunity to be in front of the committee today to make my presentation on behalf of Canada's beverage industry. The Canadian Beverage Association represents the manufacturers and distributors of the majority of the non-alcoholic, non-dairy beverages consumed in Canada.

Agriculture committee  We represent the non-alcoholic, non-dairy sector, so beer is not in our purview.

Agriculture committee  We represent energy drink manufacturers and distributors. We are working very closely. You're probably aware that energy drinks are being moved from the natural health product category into a food category. That will line them up with how energy drinks are sold in 160 other countries.

Agriculture committee  We support that process. Along with the move from the natural health product category to the food category, energy drink producers will have to adhere to a number of requirements, particularly when it comes to labelling. There will be a nutritional facts label on these products, similar to all other food and beverage products.

Agriculture committee  Thank you for bringing that up. I think Mr. Valeriote raised this as well in his question; I don't think I got to the answer. There have been municipal initiatives popping up around the country about banning certain packaging, and I'd like to address that head-on. Usually it surrounds the use of PET plastic.

Agriculture committee  Yes, absolutely.

Agriculture committee  No, it's not. The only problem—

Agriculture committee  Yes, going back to stevia, that was a problem. It took far too long. Every other jurisdiction that I'm aware of had approved stevia for use as a sweetener years before Canada was able to get through the approval process. Again, it's a matter of government working with other governments as well as with the industry to try to cross the t's and dot the i's when it comes to safety and health.

Agriculture committee  Absolutely, and thank you for that question. There are advocates out there, again, as I mentioned, who would like to hang the obesity issue on the hook of one industry, who say if we were only to eliminate certain products from our diets or tax them, that would be the magic bullet to help us curb obesity.

Agriculture committee  As far as sweetener is concerned, certain additives and certain ingredients, be they sweeteners or other things, don't mix as well, quite frankly, in a food or beverage product. Stevia is one of those. There are products that stevia can be used in. There are others that it is not as productive to use in.