The province is committing $100,000 to promote B.C. wine to British Columbians. April has been declared as B.C. Wine Month. File photo.
The B.C. government says it is reaffirming its “commitment to B.C. wine” by providing funding for B.C. Wine Month in April.
The province is going to spend $100,000 to the B.C. Wine Institute to help promote wine produced in B.C.
In mid-February, the province proclaimed April as B.C. Wine Month shortly after Alberta said it was banning B.C. wine in the feud over the controversial Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
That was Alberta Premier Rachel Notley’s response to B.C.’s plan to restrict increased shipments of Alberta bitumen over environmental concerns — a move Notley claims will cost Alberta $1.5 billion a year.
The wine ban was lifted Feb. 22 after B.C. Premier John Horgan said the province will turn to the courts to decide whether it has the jurisdiction to place restrictions on shipments of diluted bitumen while it studies spill response.
“Our government is committed to helping winemakers create and expand markets for their products internationally, and in our home province, which remains, by far, the most important market for B.C. wines,” Agriculture Minister Lana Popham said in a release.
The government says the wine industry employs around 12,000 people in the province and contributes close to $2.8 billion to the B.C. economy.
Andy Neal
