Canada’s highest court upheld a New Brunswick law in the interprovincial beer battle that began when Gerard Comeau got into trouble 6 years ago for bringing 14 cases of beer and three bottles of liquor he bought in Quebec into New Brunswick.
A judge struck down the provincial law making it illegal to buy alcohol in another province and the provincial government appealed that ruling.
In a decision that came down this morning, the Supreme Court of Canada concludes the section of the constitution that was at the heart of the debate does not impose absolute free trade across Canada.
The high court ruling says the law aims to stop the purchasing of liquor anywhere other than the New Brunswick Liquor Corporation.
A law preventing residents of New Brunswick from stocking up on alcohol from
another province is constitutional, the Supreme Court has ruled: https://t.co/1NEdAHHK1P#constitution #constitutionallaw #NewBrunswick pic.twitter.com/bV38DmKTrn— Supreme Court Canada (@SCC_eng) April 19, 2018
The decision says the New Brunswick regulatory scheme is not intended to restrict trade across provincial borders, but to allow an eye to be kept on the way alcohol flows within the province.
Our newsroom reached out to Moosehead breweries who declined to comment.
The public prosecutor on both Gerard Comeau’s 2015 trial and the Supreme Court hearing last December is pleased with the high court’s decision in the free the beer case.
Bill Richards says the high court essentially sent out a legal test by which courts of the future will determine the constitutionality of provincial legislation when it’s being challenged.
“Some party may contest provincial legislation, whether it’s New Brunswick, Nova Scotia or British Columbia legislation by arguing that it restricts cross-border trade” Richards says, “if that’s the question before the court, the Supreme Court of Canada, in this case, has indicated how to proceed for a proper analysis of that issue”.
