A Fort McMurray restaurant isn’t hiding its distaste for B.C.’s recent restrictions on bitumen shipments, including along the Trans Mountain pipeline.
B.C. Environment Minister George Heyman announced Tuesday that the province plans to ban increased diluted bitumen shipments off its coast until it determines whether shippers are equipped to clean up a spill.
That’s a decision that has sparked a response from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as well as provincial and municipal politicians in Alberta.
And at least one privately owned restaurant in the northern town of Fort McMurray is also taking a stand.
Asti Trattoria Italiana said in a Thursday Facebook post that it had removed eight B.C. wines from its menu. New menus were printed and would be on tables Thursday night, according to owner Karen Collins.
“I looked in my heart and my love of this community and this province and I decided to remove B.C. wines at this time from my menu, based on the decision… to cut back on our bitumen,” Collins said in a phone interview Thursday.
“I know that, yes, I’m just taking off the wines, but that’s my little voice of protest.
“It’s nothing against the wineries, I have a lot of respect for the wineries… but if they can feel even an ounce of the pain that we’re feeling, I want them to convey to their government to stop this lunacy.”
WATCH: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley called B.C.’s proposed ban on increased bitumen shipments unconstitutional at a news conference on Thursday.
Much of Fort McMurray’s population is made up of people that work in the oilsands, but as Collins pointed out, people from all over the province go to her neck of the woods to work in the oil patch.
She said she’s received a lot of support from people in her community, as many are taking B.C.’s decision “very personally.”
“It’s just one more thing that’s coming down on our economy and our livelihood here in Fort McMurray, as well as the rest of the province,” she said.
“There’s a lot of… people who work in the oilsands here that live in other areas of Alberta, so you’re going to feel it in other areas too.”
Collins said she’s proud of the stance Premier Rachel Notley took, adding she hopes the Alberta government won’t back down in the fight.
“If it takes going to court, I want them to go to court,” she said.
WATCH: Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi says he fully supports Alberta Premier Rachel Notley in the B.C. – Alberta pipeline dispute.
Collins said she will put the B.C. wines back on her restaurant’s menu if the province reverses its decision.
“If I stood by and did nothing and said nothing and did not get my views known, then I’d be accepting what it is,” she said. “And I’m not ready to accept it, I’m not ready to have B.C. turn their backs on us like that.”
The B.C. Wine Institute said in an interview Thursday it was disappointed to hear an Alberta restaurant has pulled wine from its province.
“These are not huge mega-corporations by any stretch. They’re small family farms who grow grapes and make wine and they really rely on the relationship they have with their customers.
“And we have no bigger and better customers outside of the province of B.C. than we do in Alberta.”
Prodan said he hopes “cooler heads will prevail.”
“It’s more than what’s just in the bottle,” he said. “It’s the whole food and culinary experience, wine experience we have here and being able to share it with our friends here in Alberta.”
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