HALIFAX 鈥� Following weeks of criticism, the Nova Scotia government is backing away from a contentious subsidy for wine bottlers that the province鈥檚 wineries said undercut their operations.
Premier Tim Houston told dozens of wine producers on Tuesday that he is 鈥減ausing鈥� the subsidy program and creating a working group tasked with coming up with a new measure that will satisfy all the players in the sector.
Houston made the announcement following a nearly two-hour meeting late Monday with representatives from the province鈥檚 wine industry.
鈥淥bviously concerns have been raised and heard, and I would say respected,鈥� the premier told the producers. 鈥淪o we have agreed to collectively put a group together and just have a frank discussion about what would make sense. The commercial wine program as has been announced will be paused.鈥�
The government is backing away from its new commercial wine support program after drawing heavy fire from opposition parties and the agricultural sector. Wine makers said the subsidy that was launched in January allowed bottling companies to import cheaper grape juice to produce more wine and push local producers off the shelves at the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation.
Houston has been scant on details of the support that had been allocated to Nova Scotia's two wine-bottling companies, but the wine makers have said they obtained estimates that the government had committed between $6 million and $12 million per year through the program.聽
Those figures, however, are "nowhere near鈥� what was being offered through the program that was just paused, Houston said. Some funding had been delivered to the bottlers, he admitted, but he wouldn't say how much, because that information was 鈥渃ommercially sensitive.鈥澛�
The premier said he didn鈥檛 intend to give an advantage to one part of the wine sector over another.
鈥淓veryone wants growth for the industry,鈥� Houston said. 鈥淚 think we have agreed that there is room for different components of the industry.鈥�
Karl Coutinho, chair of the board at Wine Growers of Nova Scotia, called the government鈥檚 move to pause the commercial program 鈥済reat news."
鈥淭hat鈥檚 all we鈥檝e been asking for since the day we found out about it 鈥� let鈥檚 have a conversation,鈥� Coutinho said, adding that the bottler subsidy as constituted just doesn鈥檛 work.
鈥淚t鈥檚 taking taxpayer鈥檚 money and supporting foreign agriculture versus right here in the province where we support 1,500-plus jobs.鈥�
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill called the government鈥檚 move a temporary win for grape growers and wine producers.
鈥淭he premier got caught making a bad decision for the wrong reasons and he didn鈥檛 have a leg to stand on,鈥� Churchill said. 鈥淏ecause of the pressure applied 鈥� he had no other recourse but to stand down on this issue.鈥�
Over the course of the political furor, Houston was accused of helping out the bottlers because of lobbying by a friend and political supporter 鈥� a charge the premier has adamantly denied.
On Tuesday, the premier said the apparent change of course was due to the democratic process working as it should.
鈥淭his is part of governing and the important thing of our democracy is that you listen to voices when they rise,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we are doing, it鈥檚 not a bad thing, it鈥檚 a good thing.鈥�
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 19, 2024.
Keith Doucette, The Canadian Press
