The Conservative Party and the New Democrats are each focusing new private members\u2019 bills on the rising cost of beverages \u2013 both alcoholic drinks and low-alcohol beer, specifically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conservative MP Pat Kelly would like to see both the Excise Act, and its newer model, the Excise Act, 2001, amended to repeal the automatic duty increase on alcohol at the same rate of inflation. Kelly is calling for that rate to be reset to pre-2018 levels, when the escalator was introduced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the rising alcohol tax makes \u201chaving a beer with friends\u201d unaffordable for most Canadians<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt really is expensive just to go out for a simple dinner or to enjoy a night out with friends,\u201d he said in an interview with CTVNews.ca.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen we\u2019re in an inflation crisis, tying that tax to it is not going to help with affordability or competitiveness for our producers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since 2017, excise duty rates on beer, wine, spirits and other alcoholic beverages have increased automatically every year on April 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kelly argues that, like other proposed tax changes, this one should be reviewed in Parliament each time there\u2019s a move to increase it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey took that out of Parliament\u2019s hands and just allowed this to automatically go up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, NDP MP Richard Cannings argues the government should do away with the excise tax on low-alcohol beer \u2013 meaning beer with less than 0.5 per cent alcohol content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis fixes a curious anomaly in the Excise Act where low alcohol wine, low alcohol spirits are exempt from the excise tax but low-alcohol beer is not,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From a competitiveness standpoint, Cannings says this would align Canada with its major trading partners that haven\u2019t applied the same tax on low-alcohol beer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also said it would give Canadians more choice in beverage options as consumption rates of non-alcoholic beer increase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cannings has a better shot of getting his private member\u2019s bill through Parliament, as he\u2019s higher up on the priority list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The NDP MP said he\u2019s had preliminary conversations with all three parties and believes there\u2019s a \u201cgood chance\u201d the bill will progress either through the government\u2019s upcoming budget bill or a unanimous consent motion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beer Canada, present at the NDP\u2019s press conference on Thursday, said in a statement to CTVNews.ca that this is the \u201cwrong time\u201d to add to the tax burden Canadian brewers, pubs, restaurants and consumers are facing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn Canada, 85 per cent of the beer sold here is made here. Like other agri-food businesses, Canadian brewers are facing nearly unprecedented inflationary cost increases and supply-chain disruptions,\u201d said Luke Chapman, vice president of federal affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBeer Canada is encouraging members from all parties to support the elimination of excise duty on non-alcohol beer as well as the automatic annual increases to federal beer taxes.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Conservative Party and the New Democrats are each focusing new private members\u2019 bills on the rising cost of beverages \u2013 both alcoholic drinks and low-alcohol beer, specifically. Conservative MP Pat Kelly would like to see both the Excise Act, and its newer model, the Excise Act, 2001, amended to repeal the automatic duty increase […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":5753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"","format":"standard","video":"","gallery":"","source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override":[{"template":"1","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":""},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":""},"jnews_social_meta":{"fb_title":"","fb_description":"","fb_image":"","twitter_title":"","twitter_description":"","twitter_image":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"jnews_post_split":{"post_split":[{"template":"1","tag":"h2","numbering":"asc","mode":"normal","toc_type":"normal"}]},"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n