Tony Clement says a beer tax increase scheduled for April will impact breweries in the region.
The Parry Sound-Muskoka MP says the Liberal government’s two percent hike in the alcohol excise tax will not only hurt the craft brewing industry but local jobs.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance says the annual increase will coincide with Canada’s inflation rate and adds five cents to a case of 24 beers.
Clement says the increase is simply a tax grab that is now implemented automatically.
The current 47 percent excise tax applies to all alcohol products sold in Canada including domestic and imported beer.
