Just last week, retailers across Canada began removing American alcohol from shelves. The move came as a response to American President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on Canadian goods.
Though Trump has since backtracked on a number of tariffs and adjusted deadlines for others, the air in Canada is one of uncertainty for independent businesses.
“Five years ago, almost to the day, I was having to become a rapid expert on virology, communicable diseases in the context of a global pandemic,” says Shawn Moen, CEO and co-founder of 9 Mile Legacy Brewing Company. “Today, I’m having to become an expert on the layered implication of tariffs in a sovereignty crisis.
“This is all just part of being a small business owner.”
While Saskatchewan producers see an opportunity to improve Canada’s alcohol industry, some say removing trade barriers is just a start.
“Just because you have barriers removed doesn’t mean that you don’t have expenses related to production, scaling, logistics, market development,” says Moen. “So, it’s not as though there will be a GDP increase or the lights will be turned on just as a result of removing trade barriers. So there needs to be a lot more work done.”
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According to Moen, that work involves more than just amending provincial regulations and policies.
“We grow the best barley in the world, but pretty well everything else comes from out of province,” he says. “And in many cases, like the cans behind me come from out of the country, principally from our American neighbours.”
“We need to invest in processing and manufacturing in Canada,” says Moen. “It’s something we’ve let atrophy over the last several decades, and I think this has been a wake-up call in terms of really getting behind our local processing and manufacturing sectors.”
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Alcohol policies differ drastically from province to province — so much so that removing existing trade barriers doesn’t actually remove all obstacles.
“If you want to undo those things, if you want to have a strong local economy, strong local, independent businesses, you need to create an environment with policies that encourage and support that,” says Mark Heise, president and CEO of Rebellion Brewing.
“You can have all the platitudes and all the ‘shop local’ and this and that kind of slogans that you want to come up with,” says Heise. “Until you do that, it’s going to be a non-stop battle, clutching and grabbing and trying to hang on for local businesses here in Canada.”
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