November 23, 1984 (33rd Parliament, 1st Session)

Mr. Boudria:

Mr. Speaker, I have a brief comment to make and a question which I would like to ask of this Member and the Government generally. I have heard Members speak on various agricultural issues today. There was only a very brief mention made by the Government about the wine industry. I noticed that the Minister and another Member gave themselves considerable praise for so-called rescuing the wine industry for this year by buying surplus grapes.
There is a much larger concern there for Canadian consumers. That is the fact that we must make Canadian wines more appealing to the Canadian consumer. I am thinking especially of practices which are in existence now in the Province of Ontario which clearly discourage consumers from buying Canadian wines. I believe that in the Province of Ontario and other provinces Canadian wines should be made more readily available than are imported wines. I am thinking, for example, of wines being available in grocery stores.
I recognize, Mr. Speaker, that this relates to the provincial authorities. I had the privilege of serving as a member of the Legislature in the Province of Ontario for a number of years. I introduced a private Members' Bill for the sale of wine in grocery stores. That was continuously refused by the Conservative government of the Province of Ontario.
Have initiatives such as this been entertained in the dialogue which the new Government is supposed to be having with its Conservative provincial counterparts? In view of the fact that the love affair between the provincial government and the federal Government is still on, I think it would be incumbent upon them to have this bedside chat about Canadian wines being available in grocery stores. Also, I think we should have a clear policy to serve only Canadian wines on-board Air Canada. Certainly if we want to demonstrate that we have a certain pride in this agricultural product in our country, we should do it with this institution. Has the Government entertained that idea as well?
Perhaps we could hear comments from the Member about that very important sector of agriculture. It is very important in certain provinces, especially in Ontario and British Columbia.