Opinion: Premier Eby can still turn the interprovincial alcohol agreement into a win for B.C.

cns-0612GrapeGetaways1 - Pinot noir grapes at Quail's Gate Vineyards in Kelowna, B.C. With story by Laurie Carter for CanWest Travel Package. Photo by Les Bazso /PROVINCE

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Premier David Eby has an opportunity that few political leaders get.

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He can admit that Canada’s new interprovincial alcohol agreement is incomplete and become the premier who finishes the job. The agreement announced last week has been described as a breakthrough for internal trade.

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After 14 years of discussion, two House of Commons petitions, two private members’ bills, and repeated promises from governments across Canada, many Canadians believed we finally had one national market for Canadian wine.

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I wanted that to be true. Then I read the agreement. What I found was not a free trade agreement. It was a framework that allows every participating province to continue imposing liquor board markups, registration requirements, fees and administrative barriers on Canadian products sold to Canadian consumers.

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The most surprising part is what this could mean for B.C.

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Long before this agreement was signed, B.C. consumers could already purchase Canadian wine directly from participating wineries in other provinces. That access already existed. Instead of protecting it, the new agreement expressly preserves the ability of provinces to impose liquor board markups and additional costs on those same transactions.

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The agreement creates no enforceable rights for producers. It establishes no national registration system. It sets no limits on provincial liquor board markups. It creates no common reporting standard. It provides no guarantee that existing access for consumers will not become more expensive.

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I believe Eby received bad advice.

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Instead of delivering genuine free trade, British Columbia signed an agreement that preserves the very barriers Canadians believed had just been removed. Rather than strengthening B.C.’s position, it leaves consumers with the possibility of paying more for access they already had and leaves B.C. wineries no closer to a truly open Canadian market.

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That is not free trade. It is a step backward.

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Throughout the recent trade dispute with the United States, Eby has encouraged British Columbians to buy Canadian. I agree. But if governments truly believe in buying Canadian, they should not make Canadian products more expensive simply because they cross a provincial border.

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The timing makes this even more important. The United States has imposed a 50 percent tariff on Canadian wine, effectively closing one of our most important export markets.

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Canada’s response should have been bold: open our domestic market, remove unnecessary barriers, and encourage Canadians to support Canadian businesses. Instead, we now have an agreement that preserves the ability of provincial liquor boards to collect revenue on products they never purchase, warehouse, distribute or deliver.

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British Columbia can still lead.

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Eby should immediately begin discussions with Premier Doug Ford on creating Canada’s first reciprocal VQA market. Even if the national agreement falls short, B.C. and Ontario can demonstrate what genuine interprovincial free trade looks like.