Category: Latest News

Today is the big day for liquor policy modernization in British Columbia. Parliamentary Secretary, John Yap, was tasked with responsibility for running the review and for preparing a report which has been delivered to the responsible Minister, Suzanne Anton, today. The report will be made public, apparently \”early in the new year\”. The Minister and Cabinet will then consider the recommendations and implement some or all of them in the spring session of the legislature. The latest news on this is that the report will recommend a limited form of liquor sales in supermarkets, see this press release: Grocery Store Liquor Sales Recommended for BC. There are 70 recommendations in the report according to the press release.

The BC government has announced that new rules regarding charity wine auctions are effective as of today. The new rules will permit the auction of privately donated wine, in smaller quantities without a permit and in larger quantities with a permit. The press release is here: Charities Benefit from New Liquor Auction Rules. These changes should assist with resolving the problems for charities that resulted from an earlier change in policy by the Liquor Control & Licensing Branch (see: BC Charity Wine Auction Update and BC to Permit Charity Wine Auctions, Problems Remain). 

The new rules are brought into effect by Order-in-Council 507, effective November 22nd. Essentially, a new vendor category for alcohol is created under the Act for charitable auctions. A charitable auction which does not exceed certain amounts of alcohol (6 litres of spirits; 18 litres of wine; 51.2 litres of beer/cider/coolers) can proceed without a permit. Auctions for larger than the specified amounts will require a new permit which is available on application from the Licensing Branch for $50.

Auctions can be held by specified non-profit organizations or by charities, but in either case the auction proceeds must be used for charitable purposes (which means that fundraisers for the benefit of some non-profits and for political purposes are not allowed). An organization cannot hold an auction within 30 days of the last auction. There are reporting requirements and various other restrictions including not allowing consumption of auctioned liquor at the event.

The new regulations do not actually refer to private wine donations and it is not entirely clear on first reading how they are permitted for an auction. However, I have confirmed with the LCLB that they are permitted because the organization holding the auction is not a licensee under the Act (rather they are a permit holder, if required). The regulations indicate that the only restriction on sourcing auction liquor is that the product be commercially produced (i.e. not u-brew or u-vin product). The other restrictions related to alcohol sourcing in the Act and Regs do not apply because they apply to licensees. As as result, the holder of an auction can sell any product from any source including private donations so long as the product is commercially produced.

A policy directive is available here: Liquor Auctions and Private Re-sale of Liquor to LDB. 

As has been widely reported in the mainstream media, Canada and the EU have reached agreement in principle for a free trade deal known as the Comprehensive Economic & Trade Agreement (more commonly referred to as CETA). Various stories have speculated on the effects of CETA upon the Canadian wine industry. It is not possible to comment with certainty upon any effects until such time as the actual text of the agreement is publicly available. However, it has become apparent from briefing notes, that it is unlikely that CETA will have any significant effect upon the BC wine industry. As has been previously reported, CETA does away with all tariffs on wine between Canada and the EU (in both directions). In practice and for the Canadian market, this means the removal of a very small (and basically insignificant) tariff that is currently applied to European wines entering Canada. It also requires some changes to the way that the LCBO (Ontario\’s liquor board) applies \”cost of service\” fees to wine sold in that province. However, it preserves the existing exclusive distribution channels for domestic wine in certain private retail stores (in BC, these are the VQA stores) and it preserves the ability of wineries to sell from their own tasting rooms (direct delivery). As a result, there appear to be very few effects on the BC wine industry. CETA may, in fact, provide benefits to BC wineries that use European products in their manufacturing processes as any Canadian tariffs on those products will be removed. 

Today\’s Throne Speech of Canada\’s federal government indicates that the federal law which restricts the interprovincial shipment of alcohol will be amended to permit the interprovincial shipment of beer and spirits. This move would extend the previous amendments of Bill C-311, which only applied to wine, so that all alcohol is covered. The text of throne speech simply says this: \”our Government will amend the Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act to allow Canadians to take beer and spirits across provincial boundaries for their own use\”.

Unfortunately, the previous amendments which related to wine only have had limited effectiveness due to various provincial government moves which have blocked the spirit of the amendments: see Shipping Law Update for details. It is not clear whether or not the federal government would also consider introducing a \”national personal exemption\” as part of the new amendments – which would have the effect of completely opening up the country to interprovincial shipment. 

The BC Government\’s Liquor Policy Review is nearing the end of its initial consultation stage (only 3 weeks left), following which the Parliamentary Secretary responsible, John Yap, will prepare a report to the responsible Minister (Suzanne Anton) with recommendations for change. Thus far, the review panel has met with many stakeholder groups (see stakeholder meeting list here), received many submissions (see submissions list here) and received a huge amount of public input and comment via blog post, email and social media. Anyone intending to provide additional input should do so right away!

As would be expected in any review process such as this, the review panel has received a wide range of submissions covering off many different viewpoints and dealing with many different issues. The full list of submissions can be reviewed using the link above. However, I would like to highlight a few submissions which I think are particularly useful: Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association (this well researched submission deals with reform of BC\’s wholesale pricing structure and with important distribution issues), BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association (deals with many licensing issues), Herb LeRoy Honourary Wine Envoy (deals with many issues of wineries), Liquor Policy Consultants – Dennis Coates and Bert Hick (deals with many issues from the perspective of two very knowledgeable consultants), and Victoria Police Department (deals with the problematic special occasion licensing system).

Finally, I must also recommend the submissions of Modernize Wine Association of BC (of which I am President) which deal with a wide range of issues including some of those covered by other groups above. If you would like a short summary of the Modernize Wine position, you can also read this op-ed piece from the Vancouver Sun written by John Skinner of Painted Rock Winery and myself: 5 Ways to Reform BC\’s Antiquated Liquor Laws. 

The BC Government\’s liquor policy review is now firing on all cylinders. The official web site, asking for public comment, launched this past weekend. In addition, the Parliamentary Secretary responsible for the review, John Yap, has been doing extensive media interviews and is very active on social media, promoting the review and asking British Columbians for input. The purpose of the policy review is to ask stakeholders and the general public for their input on modernizing BC\’s liquor laws. The review has been attracting a great deal of positive media coverage: see BC Govt Launches New Website to Attract Public Opinion on Changing Liquor Laws, BC Launches Liquor Policy Review Website, BC Liquor Policy Review Website to Launch, and BC Taking Public Input on Changing Liquor Laws. If you care about modernizing BC\’s liquor laws, please take the time to submit your opinion on the site …

The BC Government has appointed a new General Manager of the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch, effective September 23rd. The new GM will be Doug Scott who was previously Assistant Deputy Minister of the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch. An e-mail announcement indicates that previously \”he enjoyed a 20 year career with the RCMP where Doug was responsible for several significant change initiatives.  His skill in leading strategic change will be a key asset to government as decisions about liquor reform are made and implementation begins.\” In addition, the email notes that Mr. Scott has a \”Master in Public Administration degree from Harvard University and a Master of Business Administration from Queen’s University\”. Mr. Scott succeeds Karen Ayers, the previous general manager, who retired at the end of June.

Ontario\’s lack of support for interprovincial wine shipping has hit the news recently due to Premier Kathleen Wynne\’s apparent adoption of an LCBO scripted anti-consumer position regarding interprovincial wine shipping. I have posted an analysis here on my companion site, LiquorPolicy.com. In addition, the Premier\’s stance has been roundly criticized by multiple news media reports including the following: Provinces Stomp on Consumers Ability to Buy Canadian Wine (Vancouver Sun op/ed); Ontario Won\’t Loosen Up Wine Importing Laws (Globe and Mail); Inaction on Ontario Wine (Toronto Sun); Who Wants to Limit Your Choice of Wine (National Post) and Open Borders for Wine Urged (Winnipeg Free Press). Hopefully, Premier Wynne will take note of the waves of protest and adopt a pro-consumer position sooner rather than later. After all, Ontario wine consumers are also voters … and it looks like the next election in Ontario will be a close one.

Yesterday, BC\’s Premier, Christy Clark, handily won the by-election in the riding of Westside Kelowna making her the first BC Premier in decades to represent a wine industry riding. Westside Kelowna is home to many wineries including some of BC\’s most successful ones. Indeed, the previous MLA (who stepped down for Clark) was Ben Stewart whose family owns Quails Gate winery which is located in the riding. The election win is a good sign for the BC wine industry because wine industry issues will now be at the heart of the Premier\’s constituency. Indeed, it may well be that Clark is now the province\’s first real \”Wine Industry Premier\”. The last BC Premier to hail from the Okanagan was Bill Bennett but his reign as provincial leader ended prior to the tremendous growth and expansion of the Okanagan wine industry which occurred following the inception of NAFTA in 1989. Premier Clark has already announced an overhaul of BC liquor laws (see New BC Govt Commits to Liquor Law Review) which is being led by Suzanne Anton, the new Minister of Justice, and John Yap, Parliamentary Secretary for Liquor Policy Reform. In addition, the government has appointed Herb LeRoy as BC\’s Honorary Wine Envoy tasked with rallying support for interprovincial wine shipping.

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.