Will Bill C-311 hurt BC wineries?

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KELOWNA (NEWS1130) – You could soon have wine delivered to your door from vineyards across Canada, but will that hurt Okanagan wineries?

Bill C-311 is expected to pass in the Senate, just in time for the busy summer vineyard season. It will allow you to carry alcohol across inter-provincial borders, as well as allowing vineyards to ship wine to customers in other provinces as long as it’s for personal use.

Miles Prodan with the BC Wine Institute doesn’t think local wineries will be affected by these out-of-province mail orders.

“We’re talking about one per cent, so it’s not a huge amount at all. We’re talking about people that have got a real affinity, a real interest in a small winery that just want to be able to have some wine shipped to them to enjoy,” he explains.

Although our province is expected to mainly export bottles, Prodan says they welcome the competition from the rest of the country.

“We recognize that there are some great wines produced in other regions of Canada. Nova Scotia and Ontario, I’m thinking about specifically. We expect that there are people here [who] will want to have that wine shipped here to them. We have no problem with that,” he notes.

Bill C-311 passed in the House of Commons on Wednesday with unanimous support after being introduced by Conservative MP Dan Albas, who represents the riding of Okanagan-Coquihalla.

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