🇨🇦 Trade war thirst? Banning U.S. alcohol sales has reshaped Canadian palates

Provincial alcohol bans have crushed U.S. spirits exports by 70 per cent while Canadian whiskey sales jumped 94 per cent, and Mark Carney's out here cracking bourbon jokes at a Liberal convention like economic protectionism is suddenly patriotic when it serves the party brand. Meanwhile craft brewers admit margins are compressing, small operators are closing, and customers are cutting back because going out costs too much — but sure, let's celebrate the leverage while bars lose 30 per cent in sales.

The real punchline is watching Ottawa pretend provincial bans are about sovereignty when they can't even coordinate a coherent trade strategy or ease the tax burden killing the very brewers they claim to champion. Consumers didn't choose Canadian whiskey out of love, they chose it because the alternative disappeared. That's not a win, it's managed scarcity dressed up as nationalism.

🍁 Maple Chronicles