Ruling today on border beer case

A New Brunswick retiree who just wanted to buy cheaper suds is about to find out if his 2012 beer run to Quebec will change the nature of Confederation.

The Supreme Court of Canada is to make a key ruling today on interprovincial trade, in a case that began when Gerard Comeau was stopped by police with 14 cases of beer and three bottles of liquor in his trunk.

“I’m a Canadian citizen. I can go and shop wherever I want. You can buy clothes, shoes, jewellery, everything and bring it over. How come beer is limited?” Comeau said Wednesday from his home in Tracadie, a small community in the northeast of the province.

The low-key, 64-year-old retired NB Power linesman was fined nearly $300.

But a New Brunswick trial judge ruled that the charge violated constitutional law, overturning a ban on bringing alcohol across provincial boundaries.

It quickly became a test case with wide implications.

Comeau’s lawyer has said the ruling could have the power to shift a host of laws across the country governing everything from selling chickens to how engineers and other professionals work across provincial lines. Some trade experts have said a Comeau victory could trigger lawsuits across the country seeking to dismantle similar government-run corporations for cannabis.

Many provinces have intervened in the case against Comeau, while a team of lawyers with an interest in the constitutional issues offered to represent him for free, and the Canadian Constitution Foundation volunteered its assistance.

He said he never would have been able to afford the legal fight without the help.

At issue is a section of the New Brunswick Liquor Control Act prohibiting anyone in the province from having more than 12 pints of beer not purchased through a liquor store in the province.