Advocacy in Action
Agriculture, agri-food, and beverage alcohol
Niagara’s agricultural sector supports 24,000 jobs and contributes $1.71 billion to the local economy. We grow two-thirds of Ontario’s tender fruit, 90% of its grapes, and 80% of Canada’s grapes and wine. Supporting Niagara agriculture is crucial not just to our community, but for Canada’s food security.
Top Initiatives
Make the Temporary Foreign Workers program work for businesses and Canadians
Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre has said that he’d end the temporary foreign workers program, with no new visas issued. Agriculture exemptions have been promised, with a standalone program for “genuinely hard-to-fill” agricultural jobs remaining.
Create a Canadian Free Trade Portal
While both federal and provincial governments continue to chip away at Canada’s internal trade barriers, Canadian firms still face a morass of regulations which often makes trading within Canada more difficult than trading with foreign countries. Without access to a centralized, easy-to-use data portal, this issue will continue for years.
End the Escalator Excise Tax
The excise escalator tax increases federal alcohol excise duties automatically each year based on inflation, without parliamentary debate. While intended to simplify tax adjustments, this approach has had unintended consequences.
Develop the Niagara Wine Supercluster
As Canada’s largest wine region, Niagara has the potential to develop a “supercluster” of industries that revolve around the wine sector – if given the proper supports to grow.
Eliminate the Basic Wine Tax and support VQA
Taxes on Ontario wine are among the highest in the world, hampering the growth of this sector. Additionally, government financial supports for the wine industry are significantly lower than in other wine regions of the world, and Ontario wine has a much lower share of its own market than other world wines.
Preserve agricultural lands
Ontario’s Bill 23 (the More Homes Built Faster Act) and the since-abandoned proposal to develop in the Greenbelt endanger Niagara’s agricultural lands. Canada’s farmland has been slowly shrinking for decades, which threatens food security. The housing we need can be built within our existing urban boundaries, and our farmlands should be preserved.
Healthy support for Niagara wine
In January 2023, the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA), funded by Health Canada, published Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health. This replaced the previous Low‑Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines (LRDGs) and emphasized that no amount of alcohol is entirely safe. This had a damaging effect on wine sales, but seemed to single alcohol consumption out above other and riskier recreational activities.