Alberta has joined the rest of Canada by banning sales of Russian vodka and other spirits. Alberta Gaming Liquor and Cannabis has stopped any distribution of Russian vodka to liquor stores in the province. They’ve also encouraged local stores to stop selling any Russian products they already have.
The move is designed to put additional economic pressure on Russia. Sales of Russian products amount to roughly $1.2 million per year in Alberta.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney applauded the move in a press release, saying that “Alberta stands in solidarity with the citizens of Ukraine and we will support those fighting against tyranny any way we can.”
Alberta has the only fully privatized provincial liquor industry in Canada. Individual liquor stores had to decide whether or not to pull the spirits from their shelves.
Adam Koziak, the manager at the Chateau Louis Liquor Store, said “[it] wasn’t a hard decision at all, we actually pulled them off the shelves before the Alberta government told us to. Coming from Ukrainian descent the easiest thing to do was just get rid of them…so we just basically took them off the shelves, dumped them out, and never thought of them again.”
Some of Alberta’s largest liquor store chains have also made that decision. Wine and Beyond, Liquor Depot, and Ace Liquor Discounter have each removed Russian products from their shelves.
Russian products across Alberta amount to 0.2% of the total sales of spirits in the province.
