Finance committee  Mr. Chairman and honourable members of the committee, thank you for the invitation to appear here this afternoon. The government took one step forward and two back on domestic brewers this past year. Today I will ask the finance committee to recommend that the government point a

Finance committee  I don't get to ask the questions, but I'm going to answer your question with a question if that's okay. We hear this time and again when we're meeting with Finance officials and we're trying to tell them why this is a big deal. They say it's just 5¢ a case. If it's not such a bi

Finance committee  Absolutely. To demonstrate the level of innovation, in 1990 there were 400 brands of beer sold in Canada across the country. There are over 4,000 brands today.

Finance committee  If I could just add to that, Mr. Chair, the U.S. is a very important market for all of us. The United States does not have an index tied to its federal excise rate.

Finance committee  Yes. I think the challenge I would have for the finance department is this: does it matter if all their revenue is made from imports, or do they have a responsibility to also make sure that their tax policies don't discourage domestic manufacturing? I think that's the challenge

Finance committee  That's one of the insidious things about this escalator, that it will ride in the background over time and everybody will be asking themselves, for instance, why is it nobody can afford a case of beer anymore? Why is it these small brewers can't access capital anymore? Why is it

Finance committee  There are a lot of moving parts in market dynamics in any part of the country. I was trying to highlight the fact that the rigidity of a CPI indexed excise won't necessarily work well in every jurisdiction, and looked at Atlantic Canada, which has demographics that are shifting w

Finance committee  No, I don't. I looked at it strictly from the principle of Parliament and the elected people in Parliament to protect Canadians from taxation without representation. I did not seek a legal opinion on this.

Finance committee  I want to emphasize that excise is a manufacturer's tax. It is the obligation of the producer to pay that tax once the product is produced. So if excise increases every year, it will increase the cost of a brewer being in business. That leaves less money for employees, employee t

Finance committee  In terms of the free trade agreement, as we have said in our public remarks on this, we understand that it's complex, as is excise. We're happy to be part of the process that will go forward in trying to open up the trade environment in Canada. On the trade file, what concerns us

Finance committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. I really appreciate the opportunity to participate in the legislative process on behalf of the 45 Canadian beer companies I represent. My members are large and small domestic brewers from all 10 provinces and one terri