'School yard politics' over wine infuriates B.C.-based Alberta winery owner

Chris Fodorsays he couldn`t believeAlberta's announcement banning B.C. wine when he first heardit.

"I thought it was a little bit of a joke," Fodorsaid. "It sounded like a school yard bully kind of comment."

But he says the reality of it is now sinking in. Fodor,who is originally from B.C., now lives in Alberta and dreamt for years of opening his own winery.

Two years ago he began the long and expensive process of making his dream a reality.

Initially, he hoped to use B.C. grapesbut have all production in Alberta until it proved to be too expensive. So, he decided to make and bottle the wine in Pentictonbut sell it all in Alberta.

"Wine is based upon relationships, the sales and also the consumption. And so, I am here and it is my brand, my product my dream and I wanted to be able to interact with people to tell them about it, to share stories with them," he said.

"It only made sense for me to do this around Calgary and other parts of Alberta."

Fodor believes he and his business partners have invested about $150,000 so far in City andCountry Wine. The plan, including all the necessary paperwork, was in place to begin selling his first 8,000 bottles in Alberta in the spring. Even then, he says the company likely wouldn't turn a profit for a couple years.

But after Tuesday's announcement byAlberta Premier Rachel Notley,he isn't sure.

In making her announcement, Notley said shewould halt the importof B.C. wine immediately,in response to B.C.Premier John Horgan's plans torestrict diluted bitumen shipments and further study oil spill risksof the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

"Ithink Icarry hope right now we don't have to try and move to a Plan B," he said. "Otherwise, I would examine other markets like Saskatchewan or Manitoba or B.C."

He says he doesn't understand why the Alberta government would pick an industryso unrelated to the oil business.

"I think they need to think before they speak or act and realize this does affect small businesses in Albertaand consumers who are trying to support the Canadianeconomy in general," he said.

"I think the Alberta government just gets into thisschool yard politics in which they don't really think about the big picture and just something that sounds goodor looks good as a headline."

'The ironic thing is ... the money is staying in Alberta'

The B.C. Wine studio in Okanagan Falls specializes in helping startup wineries. It produces wine in B.C. for owners who could be based elsewhere, including Alberta.

B.C. Wine Studioowner Mark Simpson says that is the case for one of his clients.

"Theironic thing is my clients working through this situation are Albertans who have invested their own money to create a business. You know the money is staying in Alberta," he said.

"Their kids go to school.They buy groceries there.You know, they put gas in theircar. Whatever it is they do, they are Albertans, so this is an action by the Alberta government that is actually going to hurt Alberta."

He says this could hurt Canada in unexpectedways.

"In the context of negotiating with the Americans and all the other major parties in the world, it really weakens our position to be seen by these other parties as fighting internally," he said.

I think itis a really shortsighted move to in any way restrict free trade in Canada for any reason. All these things can be worked out through negotiation and compromise and, in some cases, the courts."