Booze rules have to be modernized

The hopes of many Canadians that their provincial leaders would finally bring some sense to liquor laws have been dashed again.

The Canada Free Trade Agreement, released last week, makes some welcome changes to the bizarre rules that affect trade between provinces.

For ordinary British Columbians, most of the regulations are arcane and largely unseen. But selling alcohol across provincial boundaries is one issue that is front and centre for all but strict teetotallers.

On that issue, money and our peculiar attitude to booze continue to block meaningful changes to a system that most people see as irritating and outmoded.

To give credit where it is due, the provinces have managed to come up with an agreement to fix the web of interprovincial trade regulations that cost our economy between $50 billion and $130 billion a year. Under the agreement, a panel will have the task of resolving the conflicting rules on a host of products and services.

Sensibly, the new agreement takes what is called a “negative list” approach. That means everything is covered unless it is specifically exempted. Taxation, water and tobacco control are among the exemptions.

That’s a 180-degree turn from the previous agreement, which generally covered only sectors that were specifically listed.

The hope is that we can finally put an end to the inanities, which include such classics as different standards for dairycreamer cups across the country. While that one drives the dairy industry around the bend, other regulations that affect labour mobility and trucking between provinces, for instance, cramp the economy.

Internationally, the network of regulations hampers Canada’s ability to compete with other countries, so the changes should be good for us as workers, business owners and consumers.

Unless we are consumers of alcohol, which many of us are.

For those who appreciate beer and wine, and would like to try the wares of the many breweries and wineries across the country, the liquor-board monopolies still rule. The liquor boards don’t want you buying alcohol directly from other provinces because it cuts into their revenues.

The provinces have moved a little on this issue. Ontario, B.C. and Quebec did deals to allow residents to buy each other’s wines online. That’s about as much modernization as the country has seen when it comes to interprovincial trade in beer and wine.

When it comes to liquor laws, Canada is creeping, rather than leaping. It was only in 2012 that the federal government finally got rid of a regulation that prevented Canadians from carrying alcohol — even one bottle — across provincial borders.

The restrictions that hang on, however, are still major roadblocks for both consumers and the brewers and vintners who would like to sell their products to a wider audience. Smaller producers have real trouble getting noticed and thus expanding.

Our provincial governments have made important strides with the new trade agreement. It would require only a little more determination and courage to break down the barriers to booze.

— Victoria Times Colonist