Terry David Mulligan\’s plan to transport wine \”illegally\” across the AB/BC border this Friday at high noon is getting a huge amount of media attention. This week, the Calgary Herald wrote this lead editorial supporting change to provincial liquor board policies on this issue: Alberta Should Allow Direct Purchases from Wineries. Hopefully, politicians at both the federal and provincial levels will pay attention to this issue and work towards quickly introducing a national personal use exemption, which was championed by Ron Cannan in the last Parliament. It seems abundantly obvious that Canadians want this change, which is a relative \”no-brainer\” in my view. In the U.S., the introduction (and success) of direct to consumer shipping has affected only 1% of the overall retail wine sales (the editorial says that it affected 1% of state revenue which is not necessarily the same). The effects in Canada would likely be similar: a tiny effect on provincial revenue but a huge boost for both consumer choice and for the wine industry.
Update: The Vancouver Sun has also picked up the editorial from the Calgary Herald: Law Needs Sober Second Thought
Note: While I am obviously in favour of getting the law changed … I am a lawyer and, as such, don\’t advocate anyone breaking the law.