The Alberta government continues to fight a court ruling that levied a $2 million fine against them. My guest tonight will explain exactly how this all happened. She s a small businesswoman who won a similar court battle with the Alberta government, but she won it at a trade tribunal.
00:16:11.040I mean, who picked a fight with brewers?
00:16:12.940It just seems like such a crazy thing.
00:16:15.360And in the middle of all of this, um, Joe Ceci, the finance minister, and Darren Billis, the trade minister,
00:16:23.200they go and they pick a fight with Ontario because they say Ontario isn't allowing, um, Ontario, Alberta products into their marketplace.
00:16:31.160But in the meantime, they slapped on this weird tax in the middle of nowhere.
00:16:36.380So, I, I'm a firm believer that the, the case against Ontario was actually like a big distraction from having to admit that they lost to us in the tribunal.
00:16:53.640That was completely timed to, to basically, you know, distract from the, from the press asking them about, you know, losing, losing in the tribunal.
00:17:10.500So, they were, they could say, oh, we're still fighting for Alberta brewers.
00:17:15.560Look over there, Ontario, big bad Ontario.
00:17:18.260And, you know, don't get me wrong, um, I, I don't deny that there's issues with the LCBO, but if that was something that was so, if that was the issue,
00:17:32.780then that's what they should have addressed back in 2015 and not wait like three and a half years until they're told what they're doing is wrong to go and, uh, and pick on, on another province.
00:17:48.260Yeah, and I just saw a headline the other day that the government of Canada is now, um, at least trying to eliminate federal barriers to alcohol trade.
00:17:59.160Um, it seems like a strange thing from, um, Justin Trudeau's government to be in favor of free trade, but, you know, I, I'll take it where I can get it, I guess.
00:18:10.040So, yep, yep, there's, um, there's definitely, like, some moves afoot to try and make this a little simpler.
00:18:23.300No, I was just going to say, um, yeah, I mean, this is something I, I guess the conservatives have been fighting for since, well, gosh, since they were in power and actually had the power to do something about it.
00:18:35.160Um, so it is good to see the needle moving a little bit. Um, I hate to give Justin Trudeau credit for anything, but if he, he does this, well, then good for him.
00:18:45.140Yeah, well, really good for all of us because it should just be easier, right? Like, we keep hearing that they're, I mean, they reworked the AIT.
00:18:56.660It became the Canadian, um, free trade agreement. And, um, so we're, you're hoping that they would make things easier to do business across the country instead of making it more difficult.
00:19:10.960Right. Um, now, the election's coming up. Um, I know that the NDP have had, um, I mean, it's pretty clear they just don't believe in, um, the free exchange of goods and services between provinces, um, based on their, their tariffs and trade barriers.
00:19:32.980Um, where, where, where does the UCP stand on this beer tax stuff?
00:19:40.620So, I haven't really heard them speak about it specifically. Um, I did talk to the candidate, the UCP candidate in my riding, Jason Copping.
00:19:53.700And I do, um, my understanding is, is that they have a, um, uh, a group or I don't, um, a team that's actually looking specifically at what they call, uh, red tape that's preventing, uh, businesses from, um, working, you know, smoothly or efficiently.
00:20:18.180So, uh, I definitely brought, uh, this, this beer issue up, um, for their attention because one of the, one of the things that's, that they've instituted is that even though they now have gone back to this graduated tax, which is for all breweries, again, from all over the world, um, they've kind of been sort of losers.
00:20:45.000And they're asking for an incredible amount of paperwork for a brewery to basically become eligible to get the reduced, uh, beer markup.
00:21:01.000Uh, so if, um, if, um, if we're bringing in a really tiny, bringing in beer from a really tiny brewery from Belgium and the brewery isn't willing to provide, uh, all kinds of detailed information about their financials and the structure of the organization.
00:21:21.860And, uh, uh, their declaration of production, which is actually, the declaration is, is not such a big deal, but the financial statements and all kinds of, uh, private information about the company, if they're not willing to provide that, then they're back up to that $1.25 a liter markup anyway.
00:21:44.200And we just, we don't, we don't believe that that's actually helpful.
00:21:51.120So, um, I really do hope that this, uh, this, uh, group that the UCP is putting together, that this is one of the things that they look at and that they get back to simply asking for, um, excise information.
00:22:09.400Because that, that is the way that it works in, in the other provinces around, um, around the country.
00:22:18.500It's sort of like, you know, it's sort of like you, you apply for a job and they tell you that you need to be, let's say, you know, five foot six to, to be able to do the job.
00:22:30.240And you're willing to send them, uh, a copy of your driver's license, which shows your height on it.
00:22:37.620And they say, oh no, no, that's not good enough.
00:22:40.340We now need, um, you know, uh, uh, a blood sample and your DNA test results.
00:22:49.120It's, it's, it's really intrusive and it just seems like, like, it's just designed to, to discourage, uh, breweries from getting the lower markup.
00:23:06.440It feels like, like you say, it's designed to be an, a deterrent because it is so darn intrusive.
00:23:14.820There's no way that I, as a company, would give the Alberta government my financial statements just so that I could do business with Beau Vitinov from Artisan Ales.
00:23:27.700They, they need to know maybe production size, but I don't know why Joe Sisi and Rachel Notley need to know about the, like, the financial statements of a Belgian beer company.
00:23:42.040Um, it's, you know, I, I guess I could kind of see if they think that, oh, you're telling us you're really tiny, but, you know, we're looking at your sales or your financial numbers and, and they're really huge.
00:23:58.840But the problem with that is you can't compare, you know, some breweries are, they're brew pubs.
00:24:06.440So they're going to have a completely different sort of financial statement, financial results than a tiny microbrewery that's strictly a brewery.
00:24:17.160So, um, yeah, I, I certainly believe that it's just, it's designed to, um, you know, to prevent, uh, breweries from, from getting the lower markup.
00:24:33.580They, the AGLC constantly assures us that that's not the case, but, um, that's, I, I think that's, that's why it was put in place.
00:24:43.740Uh, now, but when does the, um, appeals court hearing go forward?
00:24:49.980Like what's the next continuation of, um, the appeals court hearing with steam whistle?
00:24:55.420So when can we find, or when are we getting close to a result?
00:25:00.520Um, that is a good question and nobody knows the answer to that.
00:25:06.600Uh, basically it's up now to the, to the panel of judges to, to render a decision.
00:25:14.780And my understanding is that I, that there was no specific date given it.
00:25:22.680I think from what I've heard, it's usually at least a month or two, but, um, I don't believe they were given a specific timeframe of when a judgment will be rendered.
00:25:56.140Um, well, they can certainly go to our, uh, website and, uh, more importantly, our Facebook page.
00:26:05.060So, uh, our website is artisan-ales.com and we've definitely kind of had the, the, the story of all of this, uh, on our, on our Facebook page.
00:26:23.220Yeah, I think that's been the best place to get information about what you, I mean, really, you guys were put through the ringer by the Alberta government just to beat them.
00:26:33.520And then the government just kept coming back and you beat them again.
00:26:39.200And I think you've shown everybody that, um, David really can beat Goliath in this instance.
00:26:45.080Um, Beau, I want to thank you for coming on the show.
00:26:46.880Thank you for explaining such a complicated issue with such clarity because it is a lot of moving parts and a lot of things, um, to understand.
00:26:57.120Um, and I just want to thank you for explaining it in a way that, like, a layperson, just like a beer drinker, can understand.
00:27:03.900Um, well, you know, we appreciate that, uh, your interest in this, um, we, uh, we appreciate that you've, uh, given us an opportunity to, to kind of let people know what's happened in, in the beer market in Alberta.
00:27:21.920And I think the most important thing to remember now is that because of what's happened, we have far more affordable, good craft beer for Albertans to drink.
00:27:41.660Thanks for fighting for cheaper beer and freedom for everybody.
00:27:45.840I want to thank you for coming on the show and hopefully we'll touch base again when that appeals court hearing come, the ruling comes down.
00:28:13.560I think the NDP are continuing to fight steam whistle and great Western brewing in court because the NDP will spare no expense to avoid the bad optics of being responsible for Alberta taxpayers being on the hook for the NDP's mistakes as we head into an election.
00:28:30.700Like so much the NDP has done in and to this province over the last four years, it will be up to the next government to fix the mess and undo all the mistakes and damage.
00:28:40.680Well, everybody, that's the show for tonight.
00:28:42.780I'll see everybody back here in the same time, in the same place next weekend.
00:28:47.880Hopefully, hopefully by then we will be liberated from our NDP oppressors.