Honourable colleagues, I rise today to applaud the innovative and progressive work of Canada’s agriculture and processing sectors, and to highlight the red tape limiting industry’s innovations.

I recently met with representatives of Dairy Distillery, the producers of Vodkow. Many of you may be aware of this amazing and great-tasting vodka produced using dairy processing by-products. This Almonte, Ontario, business is well-known throughout Canada for its excellent spirits, but also for pivoting from making Vodkow during the COVID-19 pandemic to producing hand sanitizer, a significant amount of which they donated throughout the region and province.

This organization has taken an innovative approach to waste reduction by using dairy permeate surplus to produce ethanol. It’s innovative, progressive and an excellent addition to Canada’s economy. However, fellow senators, the government’s lack of support for innovation is clearly apparent for the Dairy Distillery and many other companies across Canada. Due to the lack of commitment to small businesses and the ever-growing changes, rules and regulations placed on Canadian business, known as red tape, Dairy Distillery has been forced to move to produce ethanol in the United States, and they are using U.S. dairy permeate surplus to produce this ethanol.

The current U.S. administration has offered significant subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act, which now is costing Canadian innovation and ingenuity. Though Dairy Distillery has acknowledged there are Canadian markets to establish an ethanol production operation here in Canada, it simply cannot find a competitive avenue to exist in this country. So they’ve settled in Michigan.

Senators, I’m concerned about the current government practices. Valuable businesses like the Dairy Distillery worked to support Canadians in times of crisis — they produced hand sanitizer for us. Now, in the climate crisis, they’re producing 2.2 million gallons of cleaner ethanol each year in partnership with a dairy co-op, which is calculated to displace 14,000 tonnes of carbon. That would mean a 5% reduction in the amount of carbon produced by that co-op. The plant will be powered by methane produced in the ethanol production process as well.

This eco-friendly process aligns with the green ambitions of this country and this government, yet they are forced to move across the border, and the U.S. will reap the benefits of the 2.2 million gallons of ethanol.

Colleagues, we must continue to foster the interests of green enterprise. Climate change is real, and the Canadian government needs to take priority action to encourage businesses to establish within our country.

I thank the Dairy Distillery for its hard work for Canadians, and hope that soon there will be equal opportunity for them to innovate here in Canada. Thank you. Meegwetch.