It’s been over a year since Premiere David Eby said, “If the president is so interested in our water, then we’re going to help him out by letting him keep his watery beer.”
The tariffs imposed by the U.S. drove B.C. to remove American liquor from its shelves, and 13 months later, it doesn’t look like the province will be backing down from that move anytime soon.
“We don’t have any leverage points here from British Columbia, this is one that we can control and we’re expecting it to continue to stay in place until such time as we have a resolution to the disputes that we have,” said Ravi Kahlon, BC Minister of Jobs and Economic Growth.
But that stance is taking a toll on the hospitality sector, with industry leaders warning of a significant loss of revenue over the past year.
“The profit on U.S. products is $150 million a year, now they’re only making, restoring $80 million in sales on that,” said Ian Tostenson, CEO of the B.C. Restaurant and Food Services Association. “The question is it really worth it? Are we hurting ourselves more than we’re actually making an effect on U.S. policy.”
Tostenson questions why alcohol was even singled out in the first place
“We don’t ban anything else form the United States, produce, meat all the different things that come form the U.S. but for some reason alcohol was targeted and we don’t think it’s having much of an impact in terms of the trade dispute.”
And in an industry built on making guests feel welcome, Tostenson says the policy puts hospitality workers in a tough spot.
“It puts us in an uncomfortable position of having to sort of explain why we don’t have them, and that’s not what hospitality is about, we’re all about the experience, not trying to explain that we are in a political battle with the United States.”
But the province remains unapologetic.
“Although some restaurants just want to make a buck that’s great for them, we have major impacts across the province. Have a Canadian beverage, you can have an international beverage, and if none of those work, maybe just don’t have a drink, maybe spend time with your family because we are in a trade dispute with our strongest ally, and we need that to resolved,” said Kahlon.