Unfair beer markup: Judge orders Alberta to pay out-of-province breweries $2M
CALGARY — A judge has ruled the Alberta government’s markup on craft beer is unconstitutional and has awarded two breweries in Ontario and Saskatchewan more than $2 million.
Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Gillian Marriott said in a written decision that the markup is discriminatory.
It “is intended to operate simultaneously with the grant program to discriminate between craft brewers and craft beer on the basis of provincial origin, creating a trade barrier relating to a provincial boundary,” she said.
Great Western Brewing Co. of Saskatoon is to receive the majority of the restitution — $1.9 million — while Toronto-based Steam Whistle Brewing is entitled to nearly $164,000.