OTTAWA — The Liberals are raising their glass to a Conservative proposal to further free the beer by allowing Canada Post to ship Canadian booze across provincial lines.
On Monday, Conservative MP Dan Albas tabled a private member’s bill that would allow Canada Post to ship alcohol across provincial lines to individuals.
The goal of the bill is to allow Canadian beer, spirit and wine producers to be able to ship their products via Canada Post to anyone in the country.
Currently, the Canada Post Act prohibits the Crown Corporation from moving “intoxicating beverages” across most provincial lines unless they are being shipped from one business to another.
That means individuals who want to purchase from their favourite booze producers in another province often have to pay more to have their orders shipped by a private shipper, if provincial laws even allow it at all.
“We want a one Canadian economy, where a craft brewer in the maritimes, a distiller in Ontario or a vintner in the Okanagan can sell to any adult Canadian in the country,” Albas told the Liberals during question period Tuesday afternoon.
“Producers in my riding find it easier to ship a bottle of wine to London, England, than to London, Ontario,” added the MP for Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna, a riding replete with wineries.
Albas said the continuous existence of booze barriers between provinces goes against Prime Minister Mark Carney’s promise to remove all internal trade barriers by July 1, 2025.
But instead of pouring cold water on the Conservative proposal, Liberal Interprovincial Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc instead appeared to cheer Albas’ idea.
“His idea of changing… the Canada Post Act to incentivize provinces to allow and to cooperate with the government of Canada is a good one,” LeBlanc responded to Albas.
The minister stated that most remaining interprovincial alcohol trade barriers are borne of the provinces, not Ottawa. But he promised Albas he would push the issue during an upcoming meeting with his provincial counterparts on March 30.
“I will happily raise it with provincial ministers and do what’s necessary for the Government of Canada to be a partner,” LeBlanc said of further allowing interprovincial alcohol trade.
The minister pointed to, and applauded, a recent agreement between the governments of Ontario and Nova Scotia allowing direct-to-consumer sales between their respective alcohol producers and residents.
Last year, all 10 provinces and Yukon signed a memorandum of understanding promising to reach direct-to-consumer alcohol sale deals amongst themselves by May 2026.
“Under this system, consumers in a Party’s territory would be permitted to order alcoholic beverages from alcoholic beverage producer(s) and have alcoholic beverages delivered directly to them for personal consumption only,” reads the MOU.
National Post
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