A Canadian brewers’ lobby group is calling out the Saskatchewan liquor wholesaler’s “misguided decision to ban Canadian-made beers from store shelves.”
The Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) confirmed on Thursday that more than 50 iconic American liquor brands will soon be gone from shelves, as the province has halted all orders amid the ongoing trade with the U.S.
On Friday, a lobby group representing the interest of brewers across the country clapped back at the province.
While the brands and company ownership may flow from the U.S., Beer Canada points out that brands like Budweiser are tied to thousands of Canadian jobs.
“Beer Canada is calling on Premier Moe’s government to immediately reverse this heavy-handed market intervention, which inappropriately targets leading Canadian beer brands brewed in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, and Québec that are most often made from Saskatchewan and other western Canadian grown barley.”
The group says this move will hurt farmers, retailers and the hospitality industry in Saskatchewan, while limiting the selection of many beer brands that are bottled by Canadian workers in plants across the country.
In a news conference in Calgary on Friday, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe acknowledged the boycott could hurt some Canadian breweries.
“We understand there’s some impacts,” he said.
Beer Canada says the move “flies in the face” of the commitments made by Canada’s premiers to strengthen interprovincial trade and cooperation “in light of American threats to our nation’s economy and sovereignty.”
“The financial impact of the measure is significant, with over 50 per cent of annual beer sales volumes at risk, potentially reducing Saskatchewan government revenues by $60 million annually and depriving consumers access to the beer brands they wish to consume.”
Moe told reporters he was committed to reassessing the scope of the boycott.
“We’ll be looking at that in the days and weeks ahead to ensure that we’re not, you know, inadvertently impacting industries here in Canada,” he said.
Alana Ross, minister responsible for the SLGA, said the decision was intended as a symbolic gesture to target the “traditional American brands.”
On Thursday, she urged Saskatchewan residents to look for alternatives.
“There’s many Canadian brands, there’s many Saskatchewan brands, and there is always [the] possibility of substituting the American brands with our locally produced brands of alcohol,” she said.
