Bootlegger! Arrest him, cuff him but above all be sure to confiscate and drink his wine!

Badio host hopes to crush 'stupid'law by walking wine across Alberta line
Bootlegging law from 1928 controls movement of alcohol

By Jen Gerson
May 8, 2011 Terry David Mulligan host of CKUA's Tasting Room Radio, is ready to face bootlegging charges this Friday when he transports alcohol from British Columbia into Alberta in violation of a 1928 law.

The authorities shall know the grapes of Terry David Mulligan’s wrath.

A Vancouver-based broadcaster and actor, he is better known as a DJ than for his activism.

But one issue is robust enough to foment his defiance. The undertones of this cause are so pungent that on Friday he will, figuratively, spit at bureaucracy in the hopes of crushing an “unjust” law.“Nobody is hoping to get arrested.

I never said I hope I get arrested,” said Mulligan, who hosts Mulligan Stew and Tasting Room Radio on CKUA.

“I’m going to do (it) on Friday the 13th at high noon at the British Columbia - Alberta border. I’m going to have a nice wooden case of wine that I’m going to walk across the border. Transparently.”

And in doing so, Mulligan may be dubbed an “outlaw.”

According to federal legislation passed in 1928 to curb domestic bootlegging, it is illegal to carry alcohol between provinces. To purchase alcohol from out-of-province wineries, consumers must contact their local liquor board and ask to have it ordered.

“That’s stupid. It’s stupid. People aren’t prepared to dance (to the liquor board’s) tune. It’s unconstitutional, it’s illegal, it’s odious,” he said.

Mulligan accuses local liquor boards holding to the 83-year-old law with making a cash grab.

The prohibition leaves small wineries in the Okanagan unable to ship their visiting customer’s wine, he said.

“I don’t think any one of us trains for social disobedience, so I’m taking this one day at a time, one step at a time,” he said, adding he plans to inform the authorities of his scheme.

“I’m trying to make my position as clear as possible on behalf of all the people in the wine business who can’t stand up because they’re being smacked around by the liquor control boards.”

The injunction against domestic booze flow is in line with other countries, said Roland Dunning, the executive director of the Canadian Association of Liquor Jurisdictions.

Retracting the federal law would “undermine the role of control of the product, and it would reduce revenues that would be going into the provincial treasury,” he said.

“Alcohol is a controlled substances . . . and it’s a major revenue generator for provinces. Taxes on alcohol fund a lot of social programs, hospitals and schools.”

Sergeant Patrick Webb, regional spokesman for the RCMP, said Mounties have not been called to observe Mulligan’s border crossing. If the provincial liquor board asked for help, the RCMP would assist, he said.

Mulligan remains undeterred.

“No one has ever been charged under this law, but they still hold this over the head of the Canadian wine industry,” he said.

Mark Hicken, a wine lawyer with an advocacy agency calling itself the Vintage Law Group, said the rule must be struck down.

“The original purpose of the law, to stop bootlegging traffic, is long gone. Now it’s used by the provincial liquor monopolies to extract money from consumers to the greatest extent possible. They’re really focused on maintaining absolute control.”

In the global context, he said, “It’s an embarrassment.”

Rather than abolish the boards altogether, Hicken suggests reforming the law to make it possible for wineries to ship to consumers directly — while still paying the local tax.

The tangled vine of legalities that restrict the movement of wine are unfathomable, said Stefanie Schales, owner of 8th Generation Winery in the Okanagan. She relocated to the wine-growing region from Germany several years ago.

“In Canada, it is not possible to drive from one province to another province, it’s hard to believe if you come from Europe. In Europe, you can go from one country to another country, and you don’t even need to show a passport anymore,” she said.

“Here in Canada, people are smuggling wine over the border. It is ridiculous.”

jgerson@calgaryherald.com