Alberta has stopped buying U.S. booze. How does that work?
Province's liquor distribution system means the government can't pull products from shelves
When Premier Danielle Smith announced on Wednesday how Alberta would respond to tariffs imposed by the United States, one measure was sure to grab attention — no more American booze.
But unlike other provinces where alcohol distribution has greater government involvement, Alberta is limited in what it can do, at least immediately.
Privatization, sort of
Back in 1993, in a shift toward privatization, the Ralph Klein government sold off Alberta's government-owned liquor stores.
But while the province exited the retail side of liquor distribution, it kept a monopoly over wholesale operations.
In other words, whether you shop at your corner liquor store or a big chain, the retailers have to order and buy their products through a Crown corporation called Alberta Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis (AGLC).
Retailers buy products from AGLC at wholesale prices. The wholesale price includes the price from the supplier plus a provincial markup, container deposit, recycling fees and federal duties and taxes. The products are transported and warehoused by private contractors. But it all flows through the provincial government.
That system means that Smith's order to halt further imports of U.S. booze is not quite as sweeping as Ontario Premier Doug Ford pulling U.S. products that are currently in stores off the shelves.
In Ontario, the government owns the products on the shelves of government liquor stores. In Alberta, the privately owned liquor stores have already paid for the products on their shelves. It would be harder — and more politically fraught — for Smith to force those stores not to sell what they have on hand.
"Everything that's on my shelf right now I have already paid for, which is different from obviously Ontario or Manitoba or B.C., who can just pull that stuff off the shelf because it's a government procurement," said David Owens, who owns Sherbrooke Liquor in Edmonton.
Lack of clarity
On the government website where retailers purchase products, American items were listed as out of stock on Thursday.
It's unclear how the import ban might apply to a product that has been ordered but is not yet in Alberta, or what would happen to the stock on hand in the central distribution warehouse.
"We're a little bit confused right now on some of the messaging," Owens said. "We're trying to get some clarification on that.
It's also unclear whether the announcement on Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump was temporarily pausing tariffs on some Canadian products would affect Alberta's U.S. alcohol import ban.
The AGLC did not respond to a request for comment. A government spokesperson did not provide responses to a list of questions from CBC News, but did say the premier would have more to share about the province's tariff response Friday.
A history of boycotting booze
Smith is not the first Alberta premier to use alcohol purchasing to try and send a message to a political opponent.
Rachel Notley did the same in 2018, halting imports of B.C. wine due to the B.C. government proposing oil-spill regulations that would block development of any new pipelines to the West Coast.
In that instance as well, the province didn't seek to prevent the sale of wine already in the province, though Notley called on Albertans to think twice about buying it.
"Maybe choose some terrific Alberta craft beer instead," she said at the time.
Watch | Why you can still find U.S. products in Alberta liquor stores:
Also announced on Wednesday was an agreement between the federal government and most provinces and territories to remove internal trade barriers and allow the sale of Canadian alcohol across the country.
In an appearance on CNN on Thursday, Smith defended the import ban.
"Our reaction is, well, if the Americans aren't going to buy products from our Canadian companies, we have to. And so that means that we should be buying more Canadian beer and more Canadian spirits and more Canadian wine," she said.
"It's not ideal."
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