Finance committee  Thank you for the invitation to speak on this important issue. I would like to briefly review four issues that are also covered in the brief I submitted. The first is the legal effect of the current law. Contrary to what you may have heard, the current law entirely stops the di

Finance committee  Sorry. The second issue that I'd like to deal with flows from the previous one. I'd like to illustrate why we need reform at the federal level by using examples of what the provincial liquor boards have done recently. Following a lot of media attention on this issue—mostly gener

Finance committee  That's exclusively in the area of federal jurisdiction. The matter of interprovincial trade is exclusively an area of federal jurisdiction, so I don't see any interference with the provinces' jurisdiction on that issue. The federal government is free to legislate as it wants on t

Finance committee  I'm sorry.

Finance committee  On the minimum reasonable amount, you can look to the United States. That's open to debate obviously. My personal definition would be one or two cases per month per person. That would be my personal definition. That's probably a legal issue you need to discuss in greater detail.

Finance committee  I think we've waited 80 years for the provinces to agree on reasonable limits and there's been no progress at all. I don't put much faith in the provinces coming to any agreement within any kind of reasonable time on that issue.

Finance committee  I'm sorry, I don't quite understand the question.

Finance committee  The one comment I would make on that is that this bill does not affect and will not affect the situation at the international border. Any imported wine will still come in exactly the way it does today. The only difference would be that there would be some ability for consumers to

Finance committee  Certainly, as Paul said, the experience in the United States has been that the main effect is on the premium and ultra-premium sector of the marketplace. I think there would be definite growth in that segment of the market for the Canadian wineries.

Finance committee  I am not an expert on that particular agreement, but I believe that it excludes the alcohol market completely. I think there's an exception in that agreement for access to alcohol markets in the other provinces. Unfortunately, I don't think that agreement solves the problem.

Finance committee  Sure. It depends on the province. Some of the provinces have restricted provisions right now. As I mentioned earlier, Alberta's provincial laws right now say that a consumer in Alberta can import wine from another province. But there is a debate about whether they actually can do

Finance committee  Sure. It varies from province to province. Some provinces need do nothing. Some provinces would have to do something, and change their existing laws.

Finance committee  Generally the answer is no, because the realities of the retail wine market, particularly for this direct-to-consumer channel, are that, first of all, consumers only buy wine for immediate consumption. More than 90% of wine in North America is consumed within 48 hours of purchase

Finance committee  Yes, absolutely it's a concern, and it's a very legitimate concern. But if you look at the experience in the United States, this particular channel, the direct-to-consumer channel, applies only to more expensive wines, so I do not see any danger in.... As I think somebody alrea

Finance committee  The only effect will be if a price was so different from one province to another that it completely overcame the cost of shipping and also the risks and delays of shipping. I know that already there are B.C. wine consumers who purchase wine in Alberta. They do so illegally right