Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Senator Gold, a recent article in The Globe and Mail noted that between 2016 and 2021 the number of people older than 65 with an outstanding mortgage on their residence increased from 1.2 million to 1.5 million. This is an unbelievable 25% increase in only five years, Senator Gold.

This is very concerning, and illustrates the growing challenges that Canadians are having with the skyrocketing costs of everything under your government’s tenure. Can you tell me if your government has started to recognize that it is failing Canadians, and that its addiction to ever-increasing spending is making things worse and not better?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question. The government is not prepared to make such a commitment, senator. The government believes that the excise tax on alcohol products is an appropriate one. It’s a modest one, as I said on another occasion recently in this chamber. The increase represents less than a fifth of one cent for a can of beer. In that regard, it is the position of the government that it does not materially add to the inflation pressures that are otherwise on our economy.

Indeed, this summer, the government eliminated the excise duty on low-alcohol beer, which brings the tax treatment of low‑alcohol beer in line with the treatment of wines and spirits with the same alcohol content and brings our practices in line with those in other G7 countries.