ALBERTA HAS BANNED B.C. WINE AS PART OF A TRADE WAR BREAKING OUT BETWEEN THE TWO PROVINCES. BUT WINE MAY BE THE LEAST OF THEIR TROUBLES. WHAT’S AT STAKE BETWEEN THEM IS A $34 BILLION BUSINESS.
When Alberta Premier Rachel Notley announced a boycott of British Columbia wines following B.C.’s proposed restrictions on Kinder Morgan’s $7.4-billion Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion, she raised the spectre of an all-out trade war between two of Canada’s most economically entwined provinces. Banning B.C. wine deals a blow to a business worth about $70 million per year between the provinces, but the stakes are higher if boycotts spread into other sectors. B.C. depends on Alberta for a large share of visitors in its tourism industry, for example, and Alberta relies on B.C. ports to get its exports to markets around the world. Combined, they sold each other $34.4 billion in goods and services in 2014, the latest figures available from Statistics Canada.