The BC government announced a new \”Agrifoods Strategy\” today which includes support for the reform of Canada\’s antiquated 1928 law which prohibits the inter-provincial shipment of wine direct to consumers (see p.22 of the Agrifoods Strategy PDF). The province promises to work with \”its counterparts across the country to open new domestic markets to BC wines\”. The press release also includes a commitment to review \”regulatory and taxation levels\” throughout the sector in order to encourage growth. Regulatory and taxation burdens on wine are closely linked to the province\’s arcane wholesale liquor distribution system which Minister Rich Coleman has also promised to reform recently: see Changes Coming to Wholesale Liquor in BC. Hopefully, more details on these initiatives will be forthcoming. On the shipping issue, perhaps BC will lead by example and take steps to ensure that BC consumers are permitted to import wine from other provinces in reasonable amounts for personal consumption (doing this would require reform of s.65 of the Liquor Control and Licensing Act which currently states that all BC residents should report all purchases of wine made in another province to the LDB and pay applicable markup).
Month: March 2012
Recent media reports from Ontario (see: Ontario\’s Most Prominent Bootlegger) indicate that some of Canada\’s Provincial Premiers may have broken Canada\’s archaic federal law (the 1928 Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act) that prohibits the transport or shipment of wine across provincial borders. The errant behaviour apparently occurred as a result of gifts of BC wine that were provided to the Premiers at a recent meeting held in BC. As a result of the media coverage, both the Ontario provincial government and the LCBO have claimed that it is \”perfectly acceptable\” for individuals to transport wine across provincial borders so long as they don\’t have it shipped. In my opinion, this statement is just plain wrong in law. The federal law at issue makes absolutely no distinction between the personal transport of alcohol and its shipment. Both of those actions are equally prohibited – and it is beyond the constitutional jurisdiction of a provincial liquor board to override that prohibition, particularly when done so through a \”policy\” change. The proper way to fix this problem is for the federal government to amend the 1928 law – which is, in fact, exactly what is being attempted by Bill C-311 which is currently before the House of Commons. The Provincial Premiers, including Dalton McGuinty, should be supporting this federal amendment so that all Canadians can obtain wine from other provinces legally. They should not be making statements that minimize the problem … for more information, see the analysis in this earlier article: Rule of Law Missed by Liquor Boards on Shipping Issue.