A STONE’S THROW AGLC pulls brand of vodka over logo
Adam Davies competes in the 16-pound open stone throwing competition during the Edmonton Scottish Society Highland Gathering at Grant MacEwan Park on Sunday.
A Russian vodka called Hammer + Sickle will no longer be imported into Alberta after the Ukrainian Canadian Congress raised concerns about its logo.
The rectangular, white bottle features a red hammer and sickle symbol at the top. The label on the back proudly proclaims the drink as a premium Russian vodka.
Its name and logo raised red flags for the congress and two NDP MLAs with Ukrainian heritage —Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview MLA Deron Bilous and Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville MLA Jessica Littlewood.
The symbol is synonymous with a brutal Russian communist regime, they argued, and should never be allowed on an alcohol product for sale in Alberta.
In an interview with Postmedia, Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) Alberta chapter president Olesia Luciw-Andryjowycz likened it to “having a swastika on a bottle of cognac.”
“That would never be allowed,” she said.
The UCC first brought the vodka to the attention of the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission early this year.
Luciw-Andryjowycz said her organization approached the commission again after a bishop flying in from B.C. saw the bottle on an airport liquor store shelf in April.
She was not impressed with AGLC’s response, which was along the lines of: Alberta has private liquor stores, so it’s out of our hands.
‘AN ABHORRENT SYMBOL’
This week, Bilous and Littlewood penned a letter to AGLC CEO Alain Maisonneuve to explain what the hammer and sickle means to the 365,000 Albertans of Ukrainian descent.
Families fled strife and persecution, including forced starvation, at the hands of the Soviets, they wrote, and “for us, the image is an abhorrent symbol that represents the genocide of millions.”
The AGLC handbook requires that products and advertising are “not offensive to the general public,” they pointed out, and it would seem Hammer + Sickle falls squarely in that category.
Speaking with Postmedia on Friday, Bilous said he got personally involved in the vodka row when he thought of his grandfather, a Ukrainian immigrant. “When I saw the label, knowing when he left Ukraine what he was leaving behind, and that people of his generation lived through horrible years, the symbol really is offensive. It’s offensive to Ukrainians, it’s offensive to people who fled Ukraine to save their lives,” he said.
In an emailed statement to Postmedia, AGLC said it recognizes Holodomor as a horrific period in Ukrainian history.
“Effective immediately, this product (Hammer + Sickle vodka) will no longer be brought into Alberta,” it said.
Luciw-Andryjowycz said she is thrilled.
“It took six months ... but the fact the government is stepping up to the plate, I’m very happy,” she said Friday.