By Andrew Macdonald
- Frank McKenna On Maritime Beer Accord
Back in 1992, Frank McKenna was Liberal premier of New Brunswick, while his colleague Don Cameron was premier of Nova Scotia.
In 1992, over a gentleman’s agreement, the two then Maritime premiers signed into effect the Maritime Beer Accord, which today still exists.
The Maritime Beer Accord allows breweries in NS and in NB to have “local status”, and thereby discounts from beer tariffs from each respective province.
The Oland Brewery on Agricola Street, which is owned by a Brazilian beer making behemoth, AB InBev gets “local” status in NB and Saint John, NB’s Moosehead Breweries gets “local” treatment in NS.
Oland Brewery is part of the Maritime Beer Accord. Beer tanks at Olan in Halifax Northend. The plant churns out 650,000 hectolitres of beer, while Garrison Brewery as a craft beer has the capacity to make 11,000 hectolitres. (The Notebook photo).
Essentially, each liquor corp in NS and NB charges cost of service fees to warehouse and retail beers, and that fee had been for a long time at $1.64 per 12 pack. Those fees are not paid in NS nor NB by Oland/Labatt/Moosehead.
A Molson-Coors beer plant in Moncton also benefits from the Maritime Beer Accord.
84-year-old Derek Oland with his three sons. Derek holds majority equity and his sons have shares as well.
The 1992 accord was signed by both Cameron and McKenna, after Derek Oland mothballed a Dartmouth beer plant, and moved the entity to Main Street Saint John.
In a recent chat with Frank McKenna, who was NB premier from 1987-1997, I brought up the beer accord.
“It was just a very, I’d say, pragmatic approach rather than cannibalizing each other, both being unable to support a brewery, we were able to come up with a rational result and I think it worked to the advantage of everybody.”
The Moose logo at Moosehead Breweries.
While the Maritime Beer Accord protects breweries in the Maritimes from outside competition, so far no global move has been filed by other jurisdictions to complain the accord is protectionism, such as was the case with Australian wine makers successfully arguing that NS wine policies violated global trade.
McKenna has praise for the late Don Cameron, who died a few years ago at age 74. “Donnie was great for doing business. We were totally aligned for procurement, a borderless region. If I had more time with Don Cameron, we would have accomplished a lot. We just saw eye to eye on everything.”
Don Cameron was a former 1991-93 NS premier. He died in 2021. And his beloved wife, Rosemary died in Jan. 2021. (Cameron family photo).
Cameron was a Tory premier and lost the 1993 election. He represented Pictou East, which is now NS Premier Tim Houston’s riding. Cameron was later appointed Boston Consul General by former late prime minister, Brian Mulroney.
