Close X
Monday, December 23, 2024
ADVT 
National

Constitutional Challenge Set For New Brunswick Court In Cross-border Beer Battle

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 24 Aug, 2015 11:23 AM
    CAMPBELLTON, N.B. — A New Brunswick man is preparing to launch a constitutional challenge over the right to buy his beer in Quebec, a case the defence says could have wider implications for interprovincial trade.
     
    Gerard Comeau, 62, will appear in court Tuesday for the start of a four-day hearing in Cambellton, N.B., after being charged with illegally importing alcohol into his home province.
     
    The Tracadie resident was charged following an RCMP sting operation in October 2012.
     
    Comeau was stopped by police with 12 cases of beer and three bottles of liquor, which he bought in Point-a-la-Croix, Que., across the river from Campbellton.
     
    Comeau said he's confident he has a strong case heading into court.
     
    "I think so," he said in a telephone interview. "According to the Canadian Constitution you can go do your shopping anywhere you want in the country."
     
    Constitutional lawyer Arnold Schwisberg will be part of a team arguing against Section 134 of the New Brunswick Liquor Control Act, which limits individuals to 12 bottles of beer purchased outside the province.
     
    Schwisberg contends the provincial law is unconstitutional.
     
    "Section 121 of our Constitution Act ... specifies goods, produce and manufacture should be admitted free into all the other provinces," said Schwisberg.
     
    He said in Comeau's case the liquor wasn't admitted to the province, nor was it admitted free because it was confiscated by police and his client was fined.
     
     
    "That's what makes this particular case such a cause celebre and such a wonderful test case for the purposes of making this (constitutional) argument.
     
    Comeau is also supported by the Canadian Constitution Foundation, which believes the case will eventually result in a challenge before the Supreme Court of Canada.
     
    Karen Selick, the foundation's litigation director who will be in Campbellton as an observer, said a favourable ruling in Comeau's case would have implications beyond the trade of alcohol.
     
    "There are lots of other ways the provinces have over the years set up trade barriers that prevent goods from flowing from one province to another and we'd like to see those fall as well."
     
    Selick said regardless of how the New Brunswick court rules, there will likely be an appeal process launched that could end up before the nation's highest court.
     
    "I can't imagine any kind of compromise decision that would satisfy both parties," she said.
     
    Should the case make it to Canada's top court, Selick said it would have to deal with a 1921 decision that essentially upholds laws such as the one in New Brunswick.
     
    Comeau said his two-hour trip to buy Quebec beer was no different from than those trips made daily by people who live just across the border. He went two or three times a year to buy alcohol that is up to 50 per cent cheaper than in New Brunswick.
     
    "I don't see any reason for buying surtax beer here just to give the government revenue," said Comeau. "If the province wants people to buy beer here then they can put the price down."

    MORE National ARTICLES

    B.C. Green Candidate Joins Forces With Liberals As Way To Defeat Conservative MP

    B.C. Green Candidate Joins Forces With Liberals As Way To Defeat Conservative MP
    Gary Adams won the Green nomination in Kelowna-Lake Country on Thursday, only to announce he planned to resign as part of a co-nomination process with his Liberal opponent.

    B.C. Green Candidate Joins Forces With Liberals As Way To Defeat Conservative MP

    Judge To Rule On Crown Request For Fitness Assessment For Via Rail Terror Plotter

    Judge To Rule On Crown Request For Fitness Assessment For Via Rail Terror Plotter
    TORONTO — A Toronto judge is to rule today on a Crown request for an assessment to determine whether a man convicted of plotting to derail a passenger train is fit to be sentenced.

    Judge To Rule On Crown Request For Fitness Assessment For Via Rail Terror Plotter

    Calgary Man Charged After Five-Month-Old Puppy Kicked Like A Football

    Calgary Man Charged After Five-Month-Old Puppy Kicked Like A Football
    Erin Tajiri says her five-month-old Corgi-mini/Australian Shepherd puppy named Lil-E was leashed and tied to a lawn chair while she was playing in a softball game at Father Lacombe High School.

    Calgary Man Charged After Five-Month-Old Puppy Kicked Like A Football

    Harper Government Finally Launches Long-promised Consultation On Assisted Dying

    Harper Government Finally Launches Long-promised Consultation On Assisted Dying
    OTTAWA — The Harper government is finally set to announce its long-promised public consultation process on the explosive issue of doctor-assisted dying.

    Harper Government Finally Launches Long-promised Consultation On Assisted Dying

    Vancouver HIV-AIDS Meeting Seen As Step Towards Goal Of Ending Pandemic By 2030

    Vancouver HIV-AIDS Meeting Seen As Step Towards Goal Of Ending Pandemic By 2030
    More than 6,000 international experts on HIV-AIDS will gather in Vancouver this weekend to share the latest scientific advances in the fight to eradicate the disease, which first emerged almost 35 years ago and exploded into a global pandemic.

    Vancouver HIV-AIDS Meeting Seen As Step Towards Goal Of Ending Pandemic By 2030

    Fewer Wildfires Burning Across B.C., But Hot, Dry Weather Expected By Weekend

    Fewer Wildfires Burning Across B.C., But Hot, Dry Weather Expected By Weekend
    KAMLOOPS, B.C. — British Columbia's Wildfire Service is urging people against becoming too complacent as the number of blazes burning up forests drops by dozens.

    Fewer Wildfires Burning Across B.C., But Hot, Dry Weather Expected By Weekend