Skip to content
Join our Newsletter
  1. Home
  2. Food and Drink

B.C. wineries team up to change Canada's inter-province shipping laws

Canadian wineries want to be able to ship their wines all over Canada. Now they're going to court to have their say.
Lindsay William-Ross
Lindsay William-Ross

They're calling themselves "The Interveners."

They are five British Columbia wine producers who are working together on behalf of over 100 small wineries in the province who want to see Canada's inter-province wine shipping laws changed.

“The Interveners” (Canadian Wine For All)

Curtis Krouzel (50th Parallel Estate), Ian MacDonald (Liquidity Wines), Jim D'Andrea (Noble Ridge Vineyard and Winery), Christine Coletta (Okanagan Crush Pad Winery), and John Skinner (Painted Rock Estate Winery) each own and operate vineyards and wineries that produce wine exclusively using 100% BC grown grapes.

These "interveners" will be bringing their concerns about the barriers the country's current laws regarding businesses shipping wines across province lines, and the ways in which they say their wineries are adversely affected.

The forum will be the Supreme Court of Canada and a case, R. v. Comeau, that's scheduled to be heard in December 2017.

Although there have been some changes to the law in recent years regarding when wines can be shipped out by whom, for what purpose, and in what quantities, many wine producers believe those changes are insufficient, and, they "need national distribution direct to consumers to build a sufficient business for long-term survival," according to Coulson Litigation, who represents the five wineries granted "intervenor" status.

Or, as Vancouver-based wine enthusiast and winery marketing professional Leeann Froese of Town Hall Brands says: "Canadian wineries want to be able to ship directly to you, no matter where you live in Canada."

Shea Coulson, counsel for the five winery owners, explains what is ahead: "The Supreme Court of Canada will hear from the two parties to the appeal (the New Brunswick Crown and Mr. Comeau) as well as a couple dozen other 'interveners' at the hearing on December 6 and 7, 2017. After the hearing, the Court could take up to a year to make its decision."

Currently the five B.C. "interveners" are running a GoFundMe campaign to support their legal fees. They have a $200,000 goal, and say that any excess funds will be put towards National Canadian wine scholarships.

"This is an important case that will have a monumental effect on the Canadian liquor industry for decades to come and will benefit ALL CANADIAN WINERIES, but in particular small and medium size wineries that do not have national distribution," note the wineries on their campaign page.