NEWS RELEASE
February 8, 2021
CHAMBER VOICES SUPPORT FOR ‘BUY, SIP AND SHIP’
Kelowna: Chamber President Jeffrey Robinson is vocal in his praise for MP Dan Albas’s Private Member Bill C-260. The Globe and Mail joined the chorus of serious voices at the end of January, calling it a “no brainer that Canadians should be able to buy alcohol online from producers.”
“For several years, the Kelowna Chamber has submitted policies to both the provincial and federal governments asking them to tear down the barriers that prevent interprovincial shipping of beer, wine and spirits,” said Robinson. “We always hear enthusiastic support, but then nothing ever happens to change the status quo. What MP Albas has done is, in Journalist Rita Trichur’s words, found ‘an elegant fix to a thorny issue that has dogged the industry for years.’ Trichur asks the Prime Minister to adopt the idea and incorporate it into the upcoming federal budget. We second that ask.”
Using Canada Post is indeed, an elegant work-round to get Okanagan-manufactured spirits, beer and wine into the hands of consumers, now. In the midst of wide-ranging travel bans and the inability of our valley’s outstanding beverage products to legally make it even to Alberta – a sensible idea.
And, if there is a beer that consumers in the Okanagan want to order from Alberta, or a wine from Niagara, that would then be possible, too.
There is an online e-petition started by the CEO of Lightning Rock Winery in Summerland – Ron Kubek is also the President of the Summerland Chamber – and it can be accessed HERE.
The Private Member’s Bill can be found HERE.
“You know what?” asked Robinson. “It’s time. Canada Post would welcome the business. Canadians would welcome more open access to Canadian-made artisanal products. And we would all benefit.”
For more information:
Dan Rogers, Executive Director, Kelowna Chamber of Commerce
dan@kelownachamber.org 250-469-7356