At least one neighbour south of the border is weighing in on the British Columbia-Alberta wine war, and he’s sending a strong message to fellow Americans.
“If Trudeau wants British Columbia to quote ‘take one for the team,’ we should recognize that he was also asking us to take one for the team.”
Washington resident and Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter Joel Connelly is siding with B.C., and in one column asks his readers to “drink up and buy Okanagan wine.”
“I’m deeply concerned about the prospects of an oil spill in Haro Strait, which divides your Gulf Islands from our San Juan Islands, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and also off the coast where a spill could foul both the beaches of Olympic National Park in our country, and Pacific Rim National Park in yours,” Connelly said. “No way that a spill would be restricted to Canadian water.”
Connelly believes there’s not enough proof that a potential spill on international waters can be properly dealt with.
“British Columbia seems to not be asking for too much, just a modest use of intelligence — thorough studies of what the impact of this stuff would be if it got in the water and a somewhat more full evaluation of safety measures,” he said.
The battle over the Trans Mountain pipeline went sour last week when Alberta Premier Rachel Notley banned the import of B.C. wines in response to the coastal province pulling out moves to block the pipeline.