Good hop, bad hop: Alberta’s craft beer subsidy plan tanked by trade panel
EDMONTON — Alberta’s subsidy plan to boost its own craft beer industry has been hammered again by a trade panel ruling.
An appeal panel under the Agreement on Internal Trade has upheld an earlier decision that provincial grants to assist Alberta craft brewers are unfair and violate interprovincial free trade rules.
“By tying the grant explicitly to certain levels of production and sales of beer produced in Alberta, the (grant) program encourages the production and sale of Alberta beer and provides a competitive advantage … over beer produced in other provinces,” wrote the appeal panel.
All brewers in Alberta pay the same $1.25 tax per litre on beer, but in 2016 Finance Minister Joe Ceci introduced grants in 2016 to help small Alberta producers expand their businesses.