If you live in British Columbia, Manitoba or Nova Scotia, raise a toast to the enlightened politicians who rule over you. In those provinces, consumers face no legal or regulatory barriers to mutually consenting commerce with wineries elsewhere in Canada. Their consumers can buy wine from anywhere in the country, either in-person or online. It is a guaranteed federal right but one which many provinces resist.
importation of intoxicating liquors act
August 3, 2013
2:00AM
As vacationers travel around Canada this summer, here is a question to ponder for those who sip fine Canadian wine: why do so many provincial politicians oppose free trade in wine among the provinces?
Before last year, it was illegal for Canadian wineries to ship direct to consumers in another province. That was unlike say, how a Quebec dairy producer can sell cheese to a grocery store chain based anywhere in Canada.