Wine laws in Canada to get a challenge

[cold]

www.freemygrapes.ca

winelaw.ca

Terry David Mulligan has gone on the record saying that he is willing to risk jail in a bid to reform Canada's archaic and outdated wine shipping laws. In an article from Business in Vancouver (Terry Mulligan Willing to go to Jail to Fight Liquor Law), he states that he is planning to have video footage taken of him going to Alberta, buying wine, and bringing it back to BC (which is currently illegal). He then plans to inform the liquor board and ask them to charge him.


Terry David Mulligan (born June 30, 1942) is a Canadian actor and television personality based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Born in New Westminster, British Columbia, Mulligan's first career was as a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer in Olds, Alberta and Red Deer, Alberta from 1960 through 1964. After leaving the Mounties, Mulligan worked as a radio DJ for 20 years, and then joined CBC Television as host of the music video series Good Rockin' Tonite (simultaneously, he was also a regular on the children's TV series Zig Zag, produced by BCTV). He left the CBC in 1985 to become a VJ and producer for MuchMusic, covering primarily the West Coast music scene as host of the long-running Much West series.

 

[robie]

Sometimes it takes drastic measures to get the right folks' attention.
More power to him!!!

 

[ibglowin]

Why is it illegal to buy in one province and bring into another?

 

[winekits4beginners]

Why is it illegal to buy in one province and bring into another?

I'm in a state where that is the case. There are a number of US states and as noted, in Canada where this is the case. I'm not sure about countries

 

[roadwarriorsvt]

I'm not sure trying to get yourself arrested for a law that you think should be changed is the best move. There are other ways to lobby for a law to be amended. Violating a law that is in place does little to show that it may need to be changed.

 

[jtstar]

kind of reminds me of the Boston Tea Party sometimes you have to fight to get what you want

 

[jet]

I'm not sure trying to get yourself arrested for a law that you think should be changed is the best move. There are other ways to lobby for a law to be amended. Violating a law that is in place does little to show that it may need to be changed.

I don't know, it sounds a lot like the civil rights movement in the South (although with much less gravity).

 

[ibglowin]

Nothing wrong with peaceful demonstration to bring your cause to the attention of the public.

 

[Aaron]

I'm not sure trying to get yourself arrested for a law that you think should be changed is the best move. There are other ways to lobby for a law to be amended. Violating a law that is in place does little to show that it may need to be changed.

On the contrary, if he were to be arrested and charged, the prevailing legal opinion is that it would end up as a supreme court case, the law would be struck down, and the provincial liquor control boards would lose their jurisdiction/monopolies. This is why the liquor control boards are not interested in charging people who violate the law. Currently, they just bully those producers that dare to ship a case across provincial boundaries by threatening to never sell their products in their stores.

If he were not arrested and charged, the publicity stunt might lead to a similar legal challenge.

I believe a similar individual action in Washington state lead to a reform of the liquor laws there...

 

[Midwest Vintner]

there are even just counties that do not allow any liqour at all. known as "dry" counties here in the states.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Daniel's