How alcohol sales explain Canada’s internal trade problem

Interprovincial trade within Canada is complicated. Existing barriers mean that many goods, like alcohol, often can’t be sold across provincial and territorial lines. Prime Minister Mark Carney has been pushing for ‘one Canadian economy’ in the wake of attempts to diversify away from the U.S. Opening up interprovincial alcohol sales, especially direct to consumer sales, have been a litmus test for this vision. But last week, the provinces and territories missed the deadline for an agreement on reducing those barriers. Jason Kirby is a staff reporter for The Globe’s Report on Business. He’s on the show to walk us through how alcohol sales work in Canada, what the barriers are preventing interprovincial trade and what it means that Canada hasn’t been able to resolve this issue. Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com Subscribe to The Globe and Mail's Morning Update to get stories directly in your inbox: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/newsletters/subscribe-morning-update/