Breaking the Barriers
As we get ready to celebrate Canada Day next week and with the renewed interest in eliminating interprovincial barriers that make buying and selling wines within our own country nearly inaccessible let’s take a moment to consider where we are.
Canada has a patch work of alcohol laws across all the provinces. Each province has its own prohibitive and protective laws based on prohibitions perpetuated by people who never lived through it. They are holding on to what was, neglecting what is.
The rules are antiquated and need to be changed. Canada is lagging behind in alcohol distribution. There is no need for this.
The farmers and artisans who grow and make wine in the county could be generating more income from their land and associated businesses.
For example, according to Ministries of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness and Rural Affairs, a corn farmer could expect to make about $518-$544 per acre of land.
Comparatively, Grape Growers of Ontario established a base price of $1,792 per tonne of Chardonnay grapes. Growers in the county could expect an average of 3 tonnes per acre, equating to $5376 per acre, with higher yields for lower quality grapes.
The resulting grapes are then made into wine that could be sold at a premium. Most of this money is kept within the community in which the grapes are grown, and some goes home to the many hard working people who come here from abroad to farm the land.
Further downstream of this, the finished product is a lure for tourists, further supporting restaurants and accommodations, generating employment opportunities for local residents, keeping more income and taxes in the community.
If the federal ministries and regional councils considered how important grape growing and the resulting tourism could be to a local economy, they might reconsider just how important a role agri-tourism could play across the county.
All signs suggest that many Canadians are not travelling abroad this year and will be staying in our home on native land. So when they return from their trips, wouldn’t it be nice if they were able to easily access the wines they tasted and enjoyed?
Canada, at best, comes in last place for national unity when it comes to alcohol distribution. And why do such overly regulated laws still exist in a time when we are all trying to support Canadian? It is still cheaper to buy international wines in most provinces.
In order to assist the existing grape-growing economy and promote its future growth to ensure sustainability, there needs to be better support from all levels of government for the grape growers, the wineries, and the secondary businesses they spawn.
You’re going to hear more about direct to consumer sales as this all unfolds, and while that is a good start, there needs to be retail access for consumers to increase choice and optimize pricing. Maybe a national tax that is easy to collect and distribute back to the provinces? The federal government needs to get involved, because the provinces are not doing a good job of considering all Canadians.