Why not beer?

The details of the Canada Free Trade Agreement, released on Friday, confirm that the deal struck among premiers last summer is an important and long-overdue step toward breaking down the barriers to interprovincial trade that have long weakened our economic union.

It also confirms once again the apparent inviolability of provincial booze monopolies, whatever the cost to Canadian business and consumers.

The deal puts in place a process to resolve many of the longstanding trade irritants that together cost the country’s economy between $50 billion and $130 billion every year. The CFTA will create a panel to harmonize the patchwork of industrial safety standards and labelling practices for consumer goods that has too often made it harder for provinces to trade with each other than with foreign countries.

This is all for the good. But the premiers also missed a golden opportunity in drawing up the agreement. The deal does little to liberalize the flow of alcohol across provincial borders, leaving in place a perverse set of provincial laws that have long stifled Canadian wineries and breweries and frustrated thirsty consumers.

In 2012, the federal government overturned an outdated and deeply unpopular prohibition-era ban on individuals carrying even one bottle of alcohol over provincial lines, with the goal of opening up the crossborder flow of booze. Yet, in the years since, most provinces have chosen not to significantly change their own rules around wine and beer imports.

The reason is obvious, if not often stated: making it easier for consumers to buy alcohol from other provinces would likely put a dent in massive liquor board revenues.

Under popular pressure, Ontario has taken small steps, striking a deal with B.C. and Quebec last year to make it easier for consumers to purchase wines from those provinces online. But by and large, Canadians are still prohibited from buying directly from other provinces.

The result is that the many domestic vintners and brewers that are too small to get picked up by liquor retailers have no way of building a reputation and growing. And Canadians who want to explore domestic options are extremely limited in their choice.

This state of affairs is not only perverse, it may also be unconstitutional. Last year, a New Brunswick court ruled that the province’s restrictions on alcohol importation for personal use violated Section 121 of the Constitution, which deals with interprovincial trade. The case has been referred to the Supreme Court.

Premiers should not leave it to the courts to overturn these widely loathed liquor laws. The cost to consumers and small businesses is not justified by the boon to provincial coffers. The provinces were right finally to embrace free trade. Grapes and hops should be no exception.

The provinces were right finally to embrace free trade. Wine and beer should be no exception