Saskatchewan brewery calls for feds to stop raising taxes

The head of Great Western Brewery says he is tired of being tapped for more taxes.

Great Western president and CEO Michael Brennan spoke out Thursday against Ottawa’s policy of automatically raising the federal excise tax on beer. The measure was first introduced by the Liberals in 2016.

“A tax that goes up and is not discussed, nobody really knows, and just always increases is where I have a fundamental issue,” he said during an event at the company’s Saskatoon brewery.

On April 1, beer taxes will automatically hike up again for the third time in as many years, with the increase tied to the rate of inflation.

The excise tax accounts for one-third of the cost of a typical can of beer in Saskatchewan, while overall production costs and the price of bottles and cans make up the remaining two-thirds, according to Brennan.

He said his company tries to deal with the rising costs as best it can.

“(The tax) sits as inflation, so it is going to be in the top level of increases for us,” he said. “We have negotiations with each of our suppliers to try and manage these increases as much as we can.”

Brennan said the tax increase coming next month will tack an extra $275,000 onto Great Western’s excise tax bill, which already sits at some $6 million.

With the next federal budget approaching, he said he hopes beer drinkers unhappy with rising prices make their concerns known.

“Lend your voice to the discussion. Make sure you are heard throughout the country that this is an unfair tax,” he said.

The Trudeau government is slated to release the federal budget on Tuesday.