Supreme Court upholds law in cross-border alcohol case

Beer not freed: Supreme Court upholds law in cross-border alcohol case

Source: CBC News
Author: Karina Roman

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled unanimously that provinces and territories have the constitutional right to restrict the importation of goods across provincial and territorial borders — as long as the primary aim of the restriction is not to impede trade.

Thursday’s ruling will dash the hopes of many Canadians who were hoping to have easier access to cheaper and sought-after products in neighbouring provinces, particularly alcohol and tobacco.

Gerard Comeau, the retired New Brunswick man who initiated what came to be known as the ‘free-the-beer’ case, drives two or three times a year from his home in Tracadie — about 160 kilometres north of Moncton — to Quebec, where it’s cheaper to buy beer and liquor.

“It doesn’t make sense… because you can go in Quebec or any province and you can buy any quantity of merchandise, clothes, food anything, except for beer,” Comeau said following Thursday’s decision.

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