American beer, wine and all other alcohol is being removed from government stores in British Columbia in retaliation for U.S. tariffs, expanding a ban on liquor from so-called red states that voted for U.S. President Donald Trump.
Premier David Eby said the widening of the ban to cover all alcohol, regardless of its state of origin, comes in response the latest news from the United States, including threats of additional tariffs on the dairy industry.
Trump's latest threats also include an investigation into Canadian lumber and reports that the president wants to redraw the border and pursue Canadian water.
"Now, the reaction of many British Columbians — myself included — is if the president is so interested in Canadian water, then we're going to help him out by letting him keep his watery beer," Eby said as he announced the expanded alcohol ban on Monday.
"We're doing this for a couple reasons," he added. "One is to respond to the escalating threats that we're seeing from the United States. The other is to recognize the feeling that many British Columbians have now when we look at American products. We don't even want to see them on the shelf anymore."
Eby said an order to remove the products from shelves went out Monday and B.C.'s Liquor Distribution Branch will no longer purchase any U.S. alcohol until the Trump White House tariff threats are resolved.
The distribution branch said some U.S.-made products will still be available through wholesale channels for purchase by restaurants and bars until existing inventory is exhausted.
Eby said fans of U.S. drinks, such as wine from California's Napa Valley, should try Okanagan wines or some of the "many distinguished spirits" and "delicious craft beers" made in B.C.
He said B.C. didn't immediately pull all American products from government-run liquor stores because Democratic state leaders had been "on side" and advocating for Canada.
But the government is still pursuing a strategy of targeting states controlled by Trump's Republican party. Eby cited B.C.'s planned legislation to allow it to levy new fees on U.S. commercial trucks travelling through the province to Alaska.
That legislation is expected to be introduced within days.
"It's a matter of strategy, to go after Republican products, to target Republicans, the ones who are doing this to American families and Canadian families," Eby said.
However, the premier added that he had received "many emails and letters and interactions with people" upset at seeing American products on retail shelves, and the expanded alcohol ban is meant to send "that strong message."
"We're responding to what British Columbians are asking for."
Eby said his family has also walked the talk in supporting the province's message to British Columbians to avoid travelling to the U.S. He said his family cancelled plans to visit Disneyland in California despite having spent $1,000 on tickets before the trade war started.
"It was not the easiest conversation," he said. "It led to a Google search for other Disneys around the world, but we're not going to an American theme park for the foreseeable future."
Eby also said he has brought up the idea of taxing U.S. thermal coal exports that are shipped abroad through Vancouver's port with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. But he added that he is aware of possible reciprocal impact on Canadian jobs if such a levy or fees on Alaska-bound trucks are imposed.
"I've already heard from people in the trucking industry expressing concern about the toll on trucks going through from Washington State to Alaska," he said. "I know that the longshore union is anxious about the discussion that's taken place around thermal coal, and understandably — (it's) their members that are loading that coal."
Eby said the federal government had committed to using whatever revenue has generated by such measures "to offset what they're doing," and the province is urging Ottawa to take workers' voices into account when considering the thermal coal tax.
