On Tuesday, July 28th, Kamloops City Council will hold a public hearing on a zoning amendment that would prevent any 100% BC wines from being made available for sale in Kamloops grocery stores – despite the provincial law clearly allowing this consumer-driven choice.
The wine-on-shelves concept is a huge win for consumers and for our local BC wine industry, which employs tens of thousands of people, and generates $113 Million in direct tax revenue for the province.
Simply put, the provincial government has said “yes” to BC-grown and bottled wines on grocery store shelves – but with this amendment, Kamloops City Council is deciding to override it and saying “no” to supporting our local farmers.
Please sign our online petition and come to the public hearing at City Hall at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 28th (7 Victoria Street West).
Let’s all tell Kamloops City Council to respect public consultation, support BC agriculture and support BC jobs!
On Tuesday, July 28th, Kamloops City Council will hold a public hearing on a zoning amendment that would prevent 100% BC eine wine from being sold in Kamloops grocery stores.
This despite the provincial government’s recent approval of the “farm-to-table” wine on shelves concept to sell only 100% BC-grown and produced wines. This consumer-driven decision comes directly from consultations with the general public during the province’s liquor policy review.
The zoning bylaw amendment directly circumvents the BC Government’s recent changes. It would prohibit any wine from being sold in grocery outlets within one kilometre of existing liquor stores.
This erroneously assumes BC VQA wine store licenses are to be considered the same as regular liquor retail licenses. They are not. In fact, under provincial law, farm-to-table wine sales are actually exempt from geographic restrictions.
With every qualifying grocery store in Kamloops within a kilometre of a retail liquor outlet, it means our local wines cannot get any of the exposure and distribution channels our local producers and consumers so richly deserve. It’s why the province created “farm-to-table” wine-selling licenses in the first place, to help BC agriculture.
The wine-on-shelves concept is a huge win for consumers and for our local BC wine industry, which employs tens of thousands of people, and generates $113 Million in direct tax revenue for the province.
Simply put, the provincial government has said “yes” to 100% BC wines on grocery store shelves – but with this amendment, Kamloops City Council is deciding to override it and saying “no”.
I support BC agriculture and Kamloops wineries - I urge you to vote "NO" against this misguided amdendment and respect public consultation!
A Voter.
