Alberta Loses Another Round In Its Support of Alberta Craft
Brewers
Right now, Alberta Premier Notley and her government are
thinking "stupid laws!", because they can't seem to
get around the ones that affect subsidies or grants for Alberta
craft brewers. Alberta's latest attempt, its 2016 Small Brewers
Development Program (SBDP) has been struck down as a non-permitted
obstacle to interprovincial trade, under the rules of the 1995
Canada-provincial Agreement on Internal Trade (the AIT).
In a 150 paragraph decision, that only a lawyer could love,
publicly released June 11, 2018, the AIT Appeal Panel in essence
concluded that the SBDP monthly grant available only to Alberta
brewers' production and sales clearly gives Alberta brewers a
competitive advantage over non-Alberta brewers, and therefore
creates "less favourable treatment" and an "obstacle
to trade", contrary to Article 401 and 403 of the AIT. The AIT
does contain some exemptions and exceptions for
