The Conservative Party wants to see inter-provincial trade barriers opened up for craft breweries and wineries.
Okenagan-area MP Dan Albas was in Southwestern Ontario recently, and says local beer and wine needs to become popular domestically before it becomes a hit internationally.
"If you want to be an international player, you really have to own your own market. Look at France, Italy and Australia; they all have good domestic consumption," says Albas. "Here in Canada, we still have every 7/10 bottles of wine foreign made."
Albas is also the Conservative's inter-provincial trade critic, and says only Manitoba, BC and Nova Scotia are effectively trading across the country.
"During our time in office, we were able to open up provincial barriers at the Federal level. Now only those three provinces have taken up the opportunity and opened up their borders," says Albas.
Albas joined Chatham-Kent-Leamington MP Dave Van Kesteren and Interim Leader Rona Ambrose on a recent tour of Erieau's Bayside Brewery and Point Pelee Winery in Kingsville.
