STATEMENT TO THE PRESS: Oil and wine don’t mix
February 2, 2018
RE: “Alberta restaurateur boycotts BC Wine in response to policy dispute over Kinder Morgan pipeline”
A free trade relationship between British Columbia and Alberta is critical for Western Canada. We are disheartened that an Alberta restaurateur has decided to boycott BC wine over a British Columbia government policy.
This situation complicates BC Wine Institute’s ongoing work to overcome long-standing barriers for trade into Alberta, including interprovincial shipping of 100% Canadian wine. We are disappointed that Alberta has not liberalized its policies and opened its borders to allow the shipment of BC wine direct to Alberta consumers.
A recent poll conducted by the Canadian Vintners’ Association indicates that 85 per cent of Albertans support interprovincial direct-to-customer wine shipping.
11 per cent of BC VQA Wine sold throughout Canada is sold in Alberta and 3.5 per cent of all wine sold in Alberta is BC VQA Wine. This makes Alberta the most important market for BC wine (outside of BC).
We remain resolute in our mission to expand sales opportunities for our 276 BC grape wineries, many of which are family-owned.
The BC Wine Institute believes that it is important for all Canadian provinces to work together and trade together to strengthen our position nationally and internationally.
Sincerely,
Miles Prodan
President / CEO
