B.C. WON’T RETALIATE FOR WINE BOYCOTT

British Columbia Premier John Horgan says he refuses to be provoked into a trade war with Alberta.

"I will be resolute in protecting this great province,” Horgan said in his first public comments since Alberta Premier Rachel Notley announced a provincial boycott of British Columbia wine, worth tens of millions of dollars.

He said Notley’s reaction was “over the top” when B.C. controversially asserted its right to restrict the flow of diluted bitumen through pipelines in B.C. to protect its coastline and environment, and announced extensive consultations and studies about spill cleanup that could take a year.

That review threatens the expansion of a pipeline from northern Alberta through B.C. to the Pacific that has already been approved by the federal government. In response, Notley this week ordered the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission to stop its purchases of British Columbia wine, which amount to more than 17 million bottles a year, worth about $ 70 million wholesale and more than double that in retail. She also cancelled talks about buying hundreds of millions of dollars worth of hydroelectricity from B.C.

Horgan, newly arrived from a trade mission to Asia where he touted the glories of Okanagan grapes to buyers in Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo, said he won’t be distracted by “retaliatory trade actions.”

resolute I will be in protecting this great province. — B. C. Pr emier Jo hn Ho rgan

What we are doing is standing up for the people of Alberta. — Al Pr Ra No b e rt a emier chel tley

“We stand with our wine industry,” he said. This escalation of the pipeline dispute is “entirely in the hands of Premier Notley, not me… I’m here for B.C., not Alberta.”

“I don’t believe it’s in anyone’s interest to have duelling premiers,” Horgan said, and he criticized Notley for urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to intervene. “For a leader of a government to goad another jurisdiction to take action against another is provocative.”

Horgan said he would not consider a tit-for-tat B.C. boycott of Alberta beef. With a throne speech next week, he said he would not be distracted, and he hopes “cooler heads on the other side of the Rockies will prevail.”

The project to twin the 1,150-kilometre Trans Mountain pipeline, which has operated for more than 60 years, is expected to triple the flow of oil from the Alberta oil sands to the Pacific Coast at Burnaby. The fed- eral government approved it last year as a way to get Canadian oil to foreign markets, but it is also the subject of a court challenge by B.C.

Notley, in a video posted Wednesday, said the neighbouring province’s effort to delay or block the project with reviews, consultations and studies is a constitutional violation that threatens Canada’s social safety net, jobs and response to climate change.

“It wasn’t an easy decision. B. C. and Alberta are good friends. And I know that our decision will have an impact on some small businesses. But let’s remember, when Alberta’s economy is allowed to enjoy the benefits of the billions of dollars a year that a successful pipeline will bring to our province, more people will be able to eat in Alberta restaurants and buy B.C. wine. But until then, B. C.’s campaign to stop Alberta from exporting our energy products is wrong. And it requires a clear and unequivocal response,” Notley said.

“We will not let the government of B. C. hold Alberta’s and Canada’s economy hostage, and jeopardize the economic security of hundreds of thousands of working families across this province and across this country,” she said. “It’s time for Ottawa to step up and assert its authority to build infrastructure that is in the larger national interest.”

Trudeau refused to intervene on either side. On his way to the U.S. for a four-day trip in San Francisco, including a meeting with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, eBay CEO Devin Wenig and other tech leaders, Trudeau said he will stand up for the national interest. That means getting resources to new markets, protecting the environment and setting a price on carbon, he said.

“We’re continuing to dis- cuss and engage with the B.C. government, with the Alberta government,” he said.

Horgan said he spoke with Notley last week, but has not spoken to her since she announced the wine boycott on Tuesday.

In response to a media question whether he would meet with her now, he made a cryptic, joking comment about the singer Chris de Burgh, which seemed to be in reference to his hit song Don’t Pay The Ferryman, with its lyrics: “Don’t even fix a price / Don’t pay the ferryman / Until he gets you to the other side.”