HALIFAX ā Following weeks of criticism, the Nova Scotia government is backing away from a contentious subsidy for wine bottlers that the provinceās wineries said undercut their operations.
Premier Tim Houston told dozens of wine producers on Tuesday that he is āpausingā 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 provinceās wine industry.
āObviously concerns have been raised and heard, and I would say respected,ā the premier told the producers. āSo 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.ā
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.Ā
Those figures, however, are "nowhere nearā 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 ācommercially sensitive.āĀ
The premier said he didnāt intend to give an advantage to one part of the wine sector over another.
āEveryone wants growth for the industry,ā Houston said. āI think we have agreed that there is room for different components of the industry.ā
Karl Coutinho, chair of the board at Wine Growers of Nova Scotia, called the governmentās move to pause the commercial program āgreat news."
āThatās all weāve been asking for since the day we found out about it ā¦ letās have a conversation,ā Coutinho said, adding that the bottler subsidy as constituted just doesnāt work.
āItās taking taxpayerās money and supporting foreign agriculture versus right here in the province where we support 1,500-plus jobs.ā
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill called the governmentās move a temporary win for grape growers and wine producers.
āThe premier got caught making a bad decision for the wrong reasons and he didnāt have a leg to stand on,ā Churchill said. āBecause of the pressure applied ā¦ he had no other recourse but to stand down on this issue.ā
Over the course of the political furor, Houston was accused of helping out the bottlers because of lobbying by a friend and political supporter ā 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.
āThis is part of governing and the important thing of our democracy is that you listen to voices when they rise,ā he said. āThatās what we are doing, itās not a bad thing, itās a good thing.ā
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 19, 2024.
Keith Doucette, The Canadian Press
