June 28th is the one year anniversary of the unanimous passage of Bill C-311, which removed Canada\’s federal ban on the interprovincial shipment of wine direct to consumers (see: Canadian Wine Shipping Reform Becomes Law). The amendments created a national personal use exemption for DTC shipments subject to applicable provincial laws. I have updated my Shipping Laws Within Canada page to provide an up-to-date summary of my views regarding the legality of shipping wine to consumers in the the various provinces across Canada. Manitoba gets the gold medal for opening its borders completely. BC gets a silver medal for opening its borders partially. Unfortunately, none of the other provinces have publicly declared their support for \”freeing the grapes\”. Instead, most are dragging their heels on reform in various ways with, in my opinion, various degrees of legal effectiveness. The award for worst behaviour has to go to Alberta … which is stating that it is not open for DTC shipments despite the fact that its own provincial laws clearly state that it is legal (see: Alberta\’s Bizarre Position on Wine Shipping Law Reform). There\’s a good summary of the situation from the Winnipeg Free Press here: Manitoba Wine Laws Ahead of the Curve. The fight goes on … please support FreeMyGrapes as it continues to press the provincial governments for the simple right to buy wine from other places within your own country.
Month: June 2013
Today\’s BC cabinet announcements by Premier Clark included commitments to modernize BC\’s \”antiquated liquor laws\” on a broad scale and with industry consultation. Suzanne Anton is the new Attorney General and Minister of Justice. Her listed responsibilities include the Liquor Distribution Branch, Liquor Licensing Branch and, in the government backgrounder, include \”Begin consultations to modernize BC\’s liquor laws\”. In addition, John Yap has been appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General with his listed responsibility being labelled as \”for Liquor Policy Reform\”. It is indicated that he will \”Lead the stakeholder consultation on modernizing B.C.’s antiquated liquor laws and recommend improvements to the minister to take to Cabinet\”.
BC\’s Premier Christy Clark announced yesterday that the MLA for Kelowna Westside, Ben Stewart (whose family owns Quails Gate Winery), has stepped aside to allow the Premier to run in his riding. The by-election will be called shortly and will likely be held in early to mid-July. This decision bodes well for the BC wine industry because the Premier will then represent a wine industry riding in the Okanagan … and wine industry issues will be at the heart of her constituency. In related news, CBC Kelowna is reporting this morning that Ben Stewart has said that he will now also lobby the Premier to modernize BC\’s liquor laws.
I have decided to move liquor policy discussions to a new web site, LiquorPolicy.com, so that this site can stay focussed on legal issues related to the wine industry. The inaugural post at the new site discusses the 38% increase in government revenue that Washington state received following the privatization of its spirits distribution business: WA – Big Win on Privatization is State Revenue.