Beer and Popcorn

I guess we owe this guy an apology:

In a unanimous decision handed down Thursday, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled provincial trade barriers are constitutional as long as they’re aimed at a valid purpose within the province’s jurisdiction, with only an incidental effect on trade. 

Canada’s constitution simply “does not impose absolute free trade across Canada,” it declared.

The ruling concluded that New Brunswick’s prohibition on residents buying alcohol from anywhere other than the New Brunswick Liquor Corporation was constitutional because it isn’t primarily meant to stop interprovincial trade.

“The objective of the New Brunswick scheme is not to restrict trade across a provincial boundary, but to enable public supervision of the production, movement, sale and use of alcohol within New Brunswick,” the decision says.

“New Brunswick’s ability to exercise oversight over liquor supplies in the province would be undermined if non-Corporation liquor could flow freely across borders and out of the garages of bootleggers and home brewers.”

On its face, the case was about booze. But had the challenge been successful, the precedent could have struck down a massive swath of provincial trade barriers, from agricultural supply management to e-commerce to environmental controls. Crown attorneys from every province had lined up at the Supreme Court to argue against the challenge, with the federal government siding with them.

The ruling declared that allowing “full economic integration” within Canada would “significantly undermine the shape of Canadian federalism, which is built upon regional diversity within a single nation.” Federalism means there must be “space to each province to regulate the economy in a manner that reflects local concerns,” the court ruled.

Now will there be riots? I mean - this is beer, not governmental corruption or provincial favouritism and screwing over the rest of the country, issues that draw no grassroots ire.


The idea that the very fabric of the Dominion of Canada is threatened by an individual freely purchasing alcohol in another province where the prices may be more affordable and/or the brands more preferable or available is the biggest pantload. That this was determined by a small team of handpicked oligarchs is just the rotten cherry on the fetid cake.


I guess one can't expect a reaction where no one respects a country's borders or who hides behind them and why.