Indexing the tax on alcohol is good government policy. Canadians drink too much. We drink more than Americans, have the highest rate of drunk driving among wealthy nations and have one of the highest rates of alcohol related deaths. No doubt alcohol figures prominently in the huge health care costs borne by Canadian taxpayers.

The automatic escalation only matches inflation - hardly onerous or unreasonable. So I'm curious why senators are opposed to it. Could it be they're being lobbied hard by the booze industry?