Tariff threat: B.C. and Ontario to target American alcohol

B.C. and Ontario are threatening to pull American booze off shelves at government liquor stores if the U.S. imposes tariffs. Andrew Johnson has more.

British Columbia Premier David Eby is joining Ontario’s Doug Ford in sending a message to the United States in the form of spirits.

The two Premiers are pledging to pull American booze from government liquor store shelves in their respective provinces, if U.S. President Donald Trump goes through with his threat of slapping a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods beginning Feb. 1.

“We have trade agreements with the Americans we have to treat their products like our own, but if they’re not going to abide by our trade agreements, then neither are we,” Eby told reporters in Vancouver Tuesday.

“Our decision not to purchase American alcohol would definitely send a message,” he added.

On Monday, Ford said he has directed the Liquor Control Board of Ontario in the event of the U.S. going forward with tariffs, to pull alcohol imported from the United States off the shelves.

“We’re the largest purchaser of alcohol in the entire world. They will feel the pain,” Ford said.

The potential spotlight that could then shine on local liquor products is not lost on Canadian brewers and distillers. Gordon Glanz, who founded Odd Society Spirits in Vancouver more than a decade ago, is keeping a close eye on the dispute.

“There’s some amazing products being made in the province to rival anything coming from anywhere else. I think it’s an opportunity to let people know, ‘Hey, we make it here at home too,’” Glanz told CTV News.

There are as many as 70 distilleries now operating in B.C. according to Glanz, in what he calls the “golden age” of distilling in the province.

“Our driving force is what we call refined rebellion. We try to make really high-quality products but with a little local twist,” Glanz said, pointing to Odd Society’s popular strawberry gin, infused with strawberries from B.C.’s Fraser Valley.

Still, Glanz said he is not rooting for an all-out trade war to come to fruition.

“In some ways, it could be good for us,” he said, “But you really don’t want to hope that it comes to this crazy impasse.”

Eby is asking British Columbians to consider altering other buying habits as well, suggesting they check labels to support Canadian-made products. He even suggested they reconsider cross-border travel that supports American business.

“It feels very strange to say but I really do think that for Canadians right now, when you’re planning your March break vacations, when you’re planning your summer vacations, if the tariff threat is realized, the deliberate economic attack on families in our province, in our country, by the president of the United States, that we really should think carefully about spending our money in that country,” he said.