Premiers, stop blocking the flow of good cheer!
It shouldn’t be harder for a Canadian business to ship its goods to London, Ont., than to London, England. But for the country’s many vintners, distillers and brewers that is all too often the case. Try to buy another province’s beer or wine and you’ll find that trade still does not flow freely between Canada’s provinces. Our governments have signed several trade deals with each other over the years, always pledging to end to protectionism within Canada, but never quite getting there.
In the 1990s, governments from all provinces and territories signed the Agreement on Internal Trade, which aimed to reduce and eliminate barriers preventing the movement of skilled labour, goods, services and investment within Canada’s borders. In the 2010s, the four western-most provinces signed the New West Partnership, which shared similar aims. And in 2017 the Canadian Free Trade Agreement got all 13 of Canada’s provincial and territorial premiers to once more agree to reduce and eliminate the barriers to trade that stand between them.
It’s never a good sign when governments make elaborate agreements three different times to accomplish the same end. As you might have guessed, progress has been very slow, with a hodgepodge of industries remaining protected from internal competition, in areas as niche as horse racing in Quebec and (believe it or not!) fishing in Saskatchewan, to others as broad as intercity bus transportation in Nova Scotia.
One exemption every province except Manitoba still has concerns the sale of alcohol. Although most food products can be transported freely across provincial boundaries, Canadian vintners, brewers and distillers still are generally prevented from freely exporting their products to other provinces and territories. So, unless your province’s liquor distribution monopoly carries that fine Okanagan Valley wine you sampled last time you were in British Columbia, you simply can’t purchase it despite the fact it is produced in your own country.
Earlier this year, these barriers to internal trade came under fire when British Columbia and Alberta got themselves into a full-fledged trade war because a few Albertans bought wine from their Pacific coast neighbour. The spat ended when, like opposing generals, the two provinces’ premiers signed an armistice — sorry, agreement — that allows their respective vintners to sell direct-to-consumer in the other province so long as liquor taxes are collected and remitted. Saskatchewan and B.C. have a similar agreement regarding wine and spirits.
It’s time we finally got rid of barriers to interprovincial trade in wine, beer and spirits. We’re one country. We should be one market.
Other provinces have taken a different approach to freeing up the cross-border alcohol trade. In Nova Scotia, for instance, the province’s liquor monopoly allows its captive consumer base to purchase wines from other Canadian provinces, as long as they fit certain criteria, such as having at least 85 per cent of its grapes come from the province where the wine is produced.
As mentioned, Manitoba does not engage in cross-border alcohol control but instead has long allowed its citizens to purchase Canadian alcohol from the province of their choice and have it delivered to their home. Ideally, the other provinces and territories would all follow this example.
Apart from the obvious benefits to consumers — greater choice of product and the convenience of online shopping and direct-to-consumer delivery — free in-Canada trade is good for fledgling alcohol producers. Barriers to trade are mere irritants for larger, established suppliers, but they can severely limit market access for smaller, growing producers.
Think of the many great microbreweries you have had the chance to sample in your home province. Surely, some would be able to pique the curiosity of retailers and restaurateurs elsewhere in the country. The same goes for local wines, whether from Ontario’s Niagara region, British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley or Quebec’s Eastern Townships, which attract travellers from various parts of the country looking to sample vintages they can’t find back home. Many visitors to these regional vineyards presumably would be interested in ordering bottles for home delivery every now and again.
The same goes for the many small-batch distillers in the Prairies or the Saint Lawrence valley, who are well-known locally for their gins and ryes but struggle to place their products in government-run liquor stores across provincial boundaries.
These barriers have blocked enjoyment and growth for far too long. We are all part of the same country. We should also be part of the same market.
Shal Marriott est chargée de recherche à l’IEDM et l’auteure de « Supprimer les obstacles interprovinciaux à la vente d’alcool en ligne ». Elle signe ce texte à titre personnel.