Fermenting rebellion Alberta should allow direct purchases from wineries

Terry David Mulligan's upcoming defiance of an archaic Prohibitionera law banning the transport of alcohol between provinces is moot because it is rarely enforced on individuals who drive small quantities of booze across provincial boundaries. Physically carting back a case of red from a B.C. winery, as Mulligan plans to do Friday, isn't going to raise any flags with liquor authorities in Alberta.

"Our focus is not on the individual who is bringing back to Alberta a few bottles of wine they got in the Okanagan," says Lynn Hutchings-Mah, a spokeswoman for the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission. Alberta liquor regulations even allow it. Section 89 of the regulations plainly states that "an adult may import from another province liquor for the adult's personal use or consumption."

According to Hutchings-Mah, the bigger concern is B.C. wineries selling directly to individuals online without going through the AGLC distribution system, which involves having their product registered here and then having a liquor retailer bring it in on a special order. Yet, Alberta's law seems to clearly allow for direct online sales, according to Vancouver lawyer Mark Hicken, who specializes in liquor regulations and offers Internet marketing services to wineries. He says Alberta cracks down on direct Internet sales by invoking the conflicting federal law that Mulligan is challenging.

The Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act, enacted in 1928 to stop domestic bootlegging, bans all shipment of liquor and wine across provincial boundaries unless the importation is authorized by the receiving province's liquor board. So, while Alberta may allow importation for private use of wine not registered for sale in this province, federal law technically prohibits it.

"They can't have it both ways," Hicken argues. "Alberta's interpretation of the law is completely wrong because it says that you can drive it across, but you can't order it online." If the 1928 law is struck down, which may happen under a bill proposed by Okanagan Conservative MP Ron Cannan, Hicken says Alberta won't have a legal leg to stand on. It would have to amend its regulations and face consumer wrath.

Hicken advocates a national, personal-use exemption system for direct online sales by wineries. In the U.S., where 83 per cent of states allow direct online purchases from wineries, Hicken says there has been only a one per cent decrease in state liquor revenues.

Alberta's liquor revenue for 2011-2012 is projected at $700 million, with wine accounting for 15 to 20 per cent of the total. If comparable to the U.S. experience, the loss to Alberta would be $1.4 million.

Hutchings-Mah says it is not just about revenue, but keeping a level playing field for Alberta retailers.

Yet, this is a province that has a free-market liquor distribution philosophy. It needs to come to grips with this newfangled thing called the Internet and allow direct purchases from wineries for those small numbers of customers who would want to do so.