An Alberta business says it’s losing tens of thousands of dollars every month after its products were pulled from B.C. store shelves.
Uproot Food Collective cites interprovincial trade barriers as the issue, a problem Alberta’s premier has promised to solve.
The Alberta food producer has operated in the province for 10 years and has sold its wares in B.C. for nearly two until recently.
Chris Lerohl, the chief executive officer of the Edmonton-based frozen food firm, said he received a notice a month ago that his sales in B.C. were going to end.
The notice informed the company of additional licensing required to sell meat across provincial borders. As a result, Lerohl’s business is losing $10,000 to $20,000 every month.
“We’ve made millions of pies in Alberta and sold them, never once an issue with someone getting sick, yet as soon as our pies or dumplings cross the B.C. border, all of the sudden, they are not safe.”
Doug Griffiths, the CEO of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, says the situation highlights the structural challenges facing interprovincial trade.
He says those challenges are costing Canada about $200 billion a year.
“We all think that rules we’ve created are the only way to do things,” Griffiths told CTV News Edmonton. “It’s not about the rules, it’s about the economy and just keeping people safe.”
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith shared that message at an event Thursday in Ottawa.
“That means breaking down interprovincial barriers that have hampered our economy for decades and killed countless jobs and opportunities,” Smith said. “That’s why I am out east this week.”
Speaking at a Conservative conference, Smith blamed the federal Liberals and NDP for blocking energy projects that she said would have made Canada less reliant on the United States.
“Canada cannot afford to be weak, not now, not ever,” she said.
“It’s time for us to grow up and start acting like a strong, independent, sovereign nation that we know and love.”
Words that offer little help to entrepreneur Lerohl.
“What we thought was opening the door on some level of interprovincial trade has just been closed on us,” he said.
Lerohl hopes to reopen that door soon but says questions regarding how his company can obtain licensing are going unanswered.
With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Chelan Skulski
