Notley stopping B.C. wine at border

EDMONTON• Alberta will no longer import British Columbia wines, Premier Rachel Notley announced Tuesday, the latest in an ongoing feud over the $7.4-billion Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

Albertans spent $ 72 million on B.C. wine last year, with almost 95 per cent of all Canadian wine sold in the province coming from next door.

“This is one good step to waking B.C. up to the fact that they can’t attack our industry without a response from us,” Notley told a news confer- ence at the Alberta legislature.

“The wine industry is very important to B. C. Not nearly as important as the energy industry is to Alberta and Canada, but important nonetheless.”

The Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission will immediately halt the import of B.C. wine to Alberta.

The wine ban is the latest move in a growing dispute over the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion that would carry more Alberta oilsands bitumen to the B.C. coast.

The $ 7.4- billion project, approved in November 2016 by the federal government, would triple capacity on the 1,150- km line, which runs from Edmonton to Burnaby.

It’s the linchpin component of Alberta’s fight to get a better overseas price for its oil, which is being sold at a discount on the North American market while the province racks up budget deficits over $10 billion.

Last week, B. C. Premier John Horgan’s NDP government announced it is l ooking at rules to l i mit any increase in the import of diluted bitumen until an independent panel can better analyze whether the system is safe and if it can adequately deal with a spill disaster.

Horgan has said the issue is about the B. C. government’s responsibility to keep the coastline and inland waterways safe.

In response last week Notley suspended talks to purchase electricity from B.C., a deal that would be worth $500-million a year to B.C.

On Tuesday, she encouraged Albertans who enjoy a glass of wine to think about their neighbours and their community, and “maybe choose some terrific Alberta craft beer instead.”

Notley said she hopes the moratorium doesn’t last long; in fact, she said, she wishes it didn’t have to be this way at all because it’s not the best solution for Canada.

As such, Alberta will revisit the ban on a regular basis as it monitors the response by B.C. and the federal government. She wants to see B.C. back down and the federal government clearly state that it won’t let the B.C. NDP government apply what she calls illegal laws.

“My immediate reaction is this is utterly stupid,” said Jeff Guignard, executive director of the Alliance of Beverage Licensees. His organization represents more than 1,000 members of B.C.’s private liquor industry, including liquor stores, pubs, bars and nightclubs.

“Punishing British Columbia wineries for something that they have nothing to do with is frankly … amateurishly political,” he said. “I think Albertans should be embarrassed their premier is advocating for it.”

He said he has no comment on the pipeline issue, but he trusts Albertans will divorce that issue from the B.C. wine boycott “and continue to drink some of the best wines in Canada if they so choose to.”

At least one Alberta business is supporting the premier’s move.

“I never thought it would go this far,” said Karen Collins on Tuesday from Fort McMurray. She stopped carrying B.C. wines at her restaurant, Asti Trattoria Italiana, last week in response to the pipeline news. “I’m very proud of our premier for taking the stance that she has.”

Collins said her boycott wasn’t an attack on small B.C. businesses but instead a way to stand up for Alberta — “our economy is being hurt here.”

Notley expects to update Albertans on a possible legal challenge “pretty quickly,” notwithstanding the fact B.C. has only threatened the new policy, and not actually implemented it.