[Newsbot]

Title: Interprovincial liquor limits face constitutional challenge
Category: Law & Order
Posted By: DrCaleb
Date: 2015-08-25 06:28:16
Canadian

[uwish]

good for you. These law are ridiculous and won't last long now it's before the courts.

[DrCaleb]

uwish uwish:

good for you. These law are ridiculous and won't last long now it's before the courts.

It'll be good to have those gone! It's illegal to go to BC and pick up some wines at a winery and bring them back to Alberta - but perfectly legal to go to California and bring back wines from there!

Silliness!

[andyt]

What we need is free trade within Canada.

[BartSimpson]

This same shit used to go on in the USA up until the 1970's. Massachusetts notoriously would send their own state police into New Hampshire to see who was buying cheap liquor at NH liquor stores and then stop them when they entered Mass.

The NH authorities struck back by arresting Mass. state police who were illegally operating in NH and then prosecuting them under Federal law for transporting firearms across state lines without a permit. I recall a couple Mass. state troopers did some jail time.

The Federal courts ordered Massachusetts to knock it off and that was the end of it.

[Winnipegger]

andyt andyt:

What we need is free trade within Canada.

Constitution of Canada: index or full document

$1:

VIII. REVENUES; DEBTS; ASSETS; TAXATION
Non-Renewable Natural Resources, Forestry Resources and Electrical Energy
92A. (1) In each province, the legislature may exclusively make laws in relation to
(a) exploration for non-renewable natural resources in the province;
(b) development, conservation and management of non-renewable natural resources and forestry resources in the province, including laws in relation to the rate of primary production therefrom; and
(c) development, conservation and management of sites and facilities in the province for the generation and production of electrical energy.

Export from provinces of resources
(2) In each province, the legislature may make laws in relation to the export from the province to another part of Canada of the primary production from non-renewable natural resources and forestry resources in the province and the production from facilities in the province for the generation of electrical energy, but such laws may not authorize or provide for discrimination in prices or in supplies exported to another part of Canada.

Marginal note:Authority of Parliament
(3) Nothing in subsection (2) derogates from the authority of Parliament to enact laws in relation to the matters referred to in that subsection and, where such a law of Parliament and a law of a province conflict, the law of Parliament prevails to the extent of the conflict.

Taxation of resources
(4) In each province, the legislature may make laws in relation to the raising of money by any mode or system of taxation in respect of
(a) non-renewable natural resources and forestry resources in the province and the primary production therefrom, and
(b) sites and facilities in the province for the generation of electrical energy and the production therefrom,
whether or not such production is exported in whole or in part from the province, but such laws may not authorize or provide for taxation that differentiates between production exported to another part of Canada and production not exported from the province.

Canadian Manufactures, etc.
121. All Articles of the Growth, Produce, or Manufacture of any one of the Provinces shall, from and after the Union, be admitted free into each of the other Provinces.

Exportation and Importation as between Two Provinces
123. Where Customs Duties are, at the Union, leviable on any Goods, Wares, or Merchandises in any Two Provinces, those Goods, Wares, and Merchandises may, from and after the Union, be imported from one of those Provinces into the other of them on Proof of Payment of the Customs Duty leviable thereon in the Province of Exportation, and on Payment of such further Amount (if any) of Customs Duty as is leviable thereon in the Province of Importation.

Hm! Not what I hoped. I was hoping this would require free trade between provinces. The section on non-renewable natural resources, forestry, and electricity generation prohibits charging more for exports to other provinces than for use within the province. However, section 123 does allow charging duty on other goods. But the catch appears to be "where customs duties are, at the union , leviable". So if duty was not charged on booze at the time of the union, then the province cannot charge duty for trade between provinces. But it doesn't permit prohibiting trade, limiting quantity, or seizing goods.

The video showed the lawyer quote section 121 above. The constitution clearly states "shall be admitted" and the word "free". I don't think aluminum cans were manufactured at the time New Brunswick joined the union. The Bayer process to make aluminum was invented in 1887; New Brunswick was one of the original provinces. Were "Customs Duties" "leviable" on beer or wine at the time New Brunswick entered the union? If not, the province is SOL.

The link is to the Justice Laws website, part of the Government of Canada website.

[QBall]

Kind of a tricky area of constitutional law considering alcohol regulation falls under provincial jurisdiction, then again if provinces don't restrict their residents' ability to purchase anything else from other provinces and bring it back to their province of residence then I'm not sure how it can't be a charter violation. Saying you can purchase 12 cases of beer, but you can only purchase it in our province and no where else seems like a charter violation to me.