The new US - Mexico - Canada trade agreement dictates that no later than November 1st, 2019, the BC goventrment shall eliminate the restriction that only BC wine can be sold in our grocery stores.
Okanagan Central, Similkameen, Nicola Conservative MP Dan Albas says two things are expected. One, American wines will be stocked and, two, it'll be at the expense of BC wines.
Albas says it's a given that small family wineries will be hurt because many grocery stoes went out of their way to carry small wineries products. He expects they'll be among the first brands pushed out by US wines.
Albas says the Free My Grapes Movement has been working for years to pressure the federal government into changing the law that currently bans the free trade of wine, beer and spirits across provincial boundaries. Albas is calling on the Trudeau Government to fix the issue as soon as possible.
Albas says in the US, American wines have dominating market share nationwide and unless we do the same for Canadian wines, consumers here will continue to drink imports first. He says 7 out of ten bottles of wine consumed in Canada are foreign.