Cautious optimism in B.C. as provinces agree to slash barriers to booze trade
Provincial and federal representatives revealed the memorandum of understanding Tuesday that commits them to advancing direct-to-consumer alcohol sales between provinces.
Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, PEI, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and the Yukon have signed on, with the goal to allow sales by next spring.
2:13
Canada making progress on lifting interprovincial trade barriers: report
Despite the step forward, the province's wine growers say they don't understand why the long wait is necessary.
Story continues below advertisement
'It's pretty hard to get excited about something we haven't seen the details of that won't happen until May 2026,' said Jeff Guignard, president and CEO of Wine Growers of British Columbia.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy
'And as with most things in government, there's no guarantee that timeline won't be extended, but our priority is to work with the government partners to get this done as quickly as possible.'
Speaking at Tuesday's update, Quebec Economy Minister Christopher Skeete said the provinces were dealing with a complex subject and that they need to ensure that taxation and public health considerations are properly dealt with.
'We are actively working to make sure we can do this the right way, and we hope Quebecers and Canadians will be able to benefit from this as soon as possible, but you understand this has never been done before, so we want to do it right,' he said.
1:46
Can the Liberal government's trade bill unify Canada's economy?
In a statement, B.C.'s Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General called the memorandum of understanding 'an important first step before undertaking necessary analysis and engagement.'
Story continues below advertisement
'Opening the national market for direct liquor sales may create opportunities for B.C. liquor manufacturers to access new customer bases and grow their businesses, while continuing to support B.C. jobs and the provincial economy,' it said.
'Removing interprovincial trade barriers for liquor is complex and important work. We are working with our counterparts across the country to improve the flow of liquor sales across provincial and territorial borders.'
B.C.'s wine and craft beer sectors employed more than 12,000 and 4,000 people, respectively, as of 2017 but have faced stiff headwinds in recent years between the COVID-19 pandemic, devastating weather in the B.C. Interior, inflation and U.S. tariffs.
B.C. became one of the first jurisdictions in Canada to allow direct-to-consumer sales from other provinces for 100 per cent Canadian wine for personal consumption in 2012, according to the provincial government.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Sun
17 minutes ago
- Toronto Sun
GOLDSTEIN: Removing all of Trump's tariffs no longer realistic
Negotiating a deal with the U.S. President that Canadians can live with is more realistic Get the latest from Lorrie Goldstein straight to your inbox U.S. President Donald Trump answers questions while departing the White House with first lady Melania Trump on July 11, 2025 in Washington, DC. Photo by Win McNamee / Getty Images While Canada's official goal in trade negotiations with the U.S is to remove all tariffs imposed on us by President Donald Trump, it's now clear this is an aspirational target rather than a realistic one. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The realistic one is to negotiate a deal with Trump that Canadians can live with, given that the U.S. President, a self-described 'tariff person,' is on a campaign to use them to demolish the existing global economic order in favour of the U.S. If Prime Minister Mark Carney can pull a rabbit out of his hat and get all of Trump's tariffs removed by Canada's new negotiating deadline of Aug. 1 – replacing the previous deadline of July 21 – all power to him, but that's a huge hill to climb. In fact, both of these dates were and are artificial lines drawn in the sand that put unnecessary pressure on Canada to reach a deal, when the real issue is what's in the deal, not when it's signed. Carney announced the July 21 deadline – saying Trump had agreed to it – at the G7 meeting Carney chaired in Kananaskis, Alberta in mid-June, following direct talks with the U.S. President and meetings between Canadian and U.S. negotiators. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. At the time, optimism was running high with Trump, while not publicly committing to any specific date, saying he thought a deal with Canada was possible. Read More In explaining his reasoning for the 30-day deadline, Carney said 'in negotiations, having a form of deadline is helpful to concentrate the mind.' But within days, Carney was downplaying whether it was possible to achieve an agreement by July 21, making the obvious point that despite having a so-called deadline, 'nothing's assured.' Since then, Trump has threatened to end the trade talks because of Canada's digital services tax on U.S. tech giants, which Carney quickly scrapped in order to restart the negotiations, raising legitimate criticism that folding so quickly was a far cry from his 'elbows up' rhetoric during the federal election. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Trump then announced a 50% tariff on copper and a 35% tariff on Canadian imports not covered by the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement Trump agreed to in his first term as president. Trump said both of those tariffs will come into effect on Aug. 1. Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks during his closing G7 press conference in Kananaskis, Alta., Tuesday, June 17, 2025. Photo by Gavin Young / Postmedia Network In response, Carney said Canada is now working towards Trump's Aug. 1 deadline for imposing new tariffs, to come up with a deal, meaning Canadian negotiators are now working on a deadline imposed by Trump. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre told CBC's The House on Saturday, correctly in my view, that it was a mistake for Carney to get into the game of deadline-setting with Trump. 'The challenge with a unilateral, self-imposed deadline is that it tells the counterparty that they have you on a clock – a clock that only applies to you,' Poilievre said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'I personally think it would have been better not to show that up front to the Americans because we know that President Trump will try to take advantage of it.' Carney had previously said that if no trade deal was reached by July 21, Canada would impose counter-tariffs in response to Trump's announcement he would double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum to 50% – which he announced prior to the G7 meeting. In light of the new Trump-imposed deadline of Aug. 1, Canada now says it will delay that move pending the outcome of the negotiations by that deadline. RECOMMENDED VIDEO But counter-tariffs themselves are problematic because they raise the cost of living for Canadians on tariffed goods imported from the U.S. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. As Industry Minister Melanie Joly has noted, save for China, Canada is the 'only country in the world' to have already imposed 'so many' counter-tariffs on the U.S. The Carney government says it will use the increased revenue from its counter-tariffs to provide financial support to Canadian workers in tariff-vulnerable sectors of the economy. In terms of the political impact of all this on Carney, it will depend on what the deal with Trump says – if any deal is possible – rather than when it's signed. This with the caveat that it was Trump who started this tariff war and whether it would have been possible for any prime minister to achieve a good deal for Canada, using confrontation or capitulation tactics, against a determined and unpredictable American president armed with an economy 10 times the size of our own. lgoldstein@ Toronto Raptors World Columnists Editorial Cartoons Relationships
Global News
2 hours ago
- Global News
Quebec college faces $30 million in fines for too many students in English programs
A Montreal college is facing $30 million in fines from the Quebec government for having too many students in its English-language programs. LaSalle College says the fines threaten the survival of the 65-year-old bilingual institution. The Quebec government imposed limits on the number of students who can be enrolled in English-language college programs as part of a new language law passed in 2022. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy It says LaSalle College is the only private subsidized college that has not respected the quotas. The college says it's been unable to respect the limits, in part because many international students had already been accepted before the quotas were announced. It says it will be in compliance by this fall, and has gone to court to ask for the fines to be overturned.
Montreal Gazette
3 hours ago
- Montreal Gazette
Far fewer Quebecers and other Canadians travelling to the U.S. this year: StatCan
By Far fewer Canadians — including Quebecers — are travelling to the United States this year than they did in 2024. Recently released Statistics Canada data shows a sharp decline in Canadians returning to the country from abroad, driven by a decline in travel from the United States. The decline in travel, which also includes fewer U.S. visitors entering Canada, tracks with the first months of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration. This second Trump presidency has seen a sharp deterioration in Canada-U.S. relations marked by aggressive tariffs on Canadian goods and threats of annexation. With it have come calls to boycott American goods — and American vacations. Depending on the metric, travel from the U.S. has declined year-over-year every month since either January or February. Trump took office Jan. 20. In June, 1.3 million Canadians returned home from the United States at land crossings, making for 33-per-cent fewer trips than in June 2024. June was the sixth consecutive month that fewer Canadians crossed the land border back into the country, compared with the same months in 2024. Quebecers cut back on U.S. travel even more. Just 164,000 Canadians crossed the U.S. border into Quebec in June, a 43-per-cent decrease from June 2024, when 286,000 people made the same trip. Americans are also opting to travel to Canada less: 1.4 million U.S. residents entered Canada in June 2025, a 10-per-cent decline from 2024 and the fifth consecutive month that U.S. travel to Canada declined. Airports are also less busy, with 3.4-per-cent fewer Canadians —1.2 million people — returning to the country by plane this June than in June 2024. The drop was driven by a decrease in return trips from the U.S.: 364,000 Canadian residents made that journey, a 22-per-cent decline from June last year. But arrivals from outside the U.S. increased, with 867,000 Canadians returning from countries outside the U.S. this June, 7.3 per cent more than in June 2024.
