Aariak: GN will implement EU booze boycott

The Nunavut government will find a way to implement a ban on alcohol products from the European Union that doesn’t run afoul of international trade rules, Premier Eva Aariak said Monday.

Regular MLAs passed a motion March 11 that asks the Nunavut Liquor Commission to impose a moratorium on the purchase of alcohol products from EU member states, to protest against the EU’s import ban on seal products.

All seven cabinet ministers abstained from voting on the measure.

“Now that it’s passed, the government has to do something about it,” Aariak said in an interview Monday. “In terms of exactly what we would present, I guess it’s still to be determined.”

Aariak said she did know how long the process of drafting a policy response to the motion would take.

South Baffin MLA Fred Schell brought the motion forward. It commits the Nunavut Liquor Commission to a moratorium on purchasing “products originating from the European Union from this day forward until such time as the issue of the seal product ban is resolved to Nunavut’s satisfaction.”

Speaking to MLAs March 11, Aariak said the motion could be interpreted as a violation of the World Trade Organization’s general agreement on tariffs and trade, of which Canada is a signatory, because it discriminates against EU products based on their origins.

She also said the motion may violate an agreement between the European Economic Community and Canada on trade and commerce in alcoholic beverages.

And she said the motion might hurt the federal government’s recent efforts to overturn the EU seal products ban.

Canada and Norway have each launched legal challenges against it, through official complaints to the World Trade Organization, the group that sets the rules for world trade.

“One of the principles of good government is that a government should not, through its decisions, expose itself to areas of potential liability or make decisions which break existing laws,” Aariak said.

But Schell said he doesn’t see how Nunavut would break any trade laws, because the motion doesn’t ban the possession or import of European booze by individuals. The motion only bars the liquor commission from stocking such products, he said.

Schell acknowledged the financial impact of Nunavut’s boycott on the European Union would be tiny. But he said he hopes the motion will get the EU’s attention and end the seal ban faster than going through the courts and WTO.

“I had to push a point… that we are not happy here and there has to be an immediate solution, not [one] five or six years from now,” Schell said.

With files from Jane George and Jim Bell.