Friday, May 5, 2017

Chicken inter-prov. trade ban may fall

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case of provincial trade barriers on booze that the defence lawyer says might strike down provincial barriers for supply management.

That would include the Quebec and Ontario bans on moving chickens to processors in the other province.

It might also strike down barriers to buying quota from another province.

Defence lawyer Arnold Schwisberg made the comments after the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case involving his client, Gerard Comeau, who brought beer and liquor from Quebec to New Brunswick.

He was fined, but a provincial-court judge ruled New Brunswick’s law is unconstitutional because it restricts inter-provincial trade.


The Supreme Court will be hearing the case months after provincial and territorial governments met yet again to affirm that they want to reduce inter-provincial trade barriers.