The US Ambassador to Canada seems to have a liquor fixation. He’s been in the news he is talking about American alcohol on Canadian store shelves.

Or, more accurately, the lack thereof. You can’t buy American wine, beer or spirits in most places in Canada.

Most of the booze trade in Canada is government controlled. In 2025, when Donald Trump decided to play his tariff games with the world, the decision was made to take American alcohol off Canadian shelves.

It was a symbolic gesture. Booze is not an essential item. It showed Canadian displeasure with what was viewed as unfair American trading practices, with minimal impact on consumers.

the theory is nobody needs alcohol, not even Canadian alcohol. though admittedly, as i understand it, liquor stores were open during the COVID-19 pandemic when most things were closed.

American alcohol producers have noticed the drop in their sales, and so has America’s ambassador. They don’t think it is at all fair.

Funnily enough, that is what Canadian producers had to say about American tariffs that violated signed trade agreements. The American administration disagreed. For 18 months there have been tariffs and counter-tariffs on thousands of products, with prices rising for consumers in both Canada and the United States.

An objective observer might say that both countries have a point. That’s why you negotiate trade agreements, to get the best deal possible. once you sign an agreement you are expected to stick to your word.

In a trade war there will be casualties. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra apparently doesn’t understand that. If he doesn’t like the booze ban, he is part of the administration that can return to the way things used to be. Or negotiate a new deal.

I think the American fear is that tastes change and even when American alcohol becomes available again in Canadian stores, no-one will buy it. I think that is a very real possibility.

I for one will not be rushing out to buy Kentucky Bourbon anytime soon. Mind you, I have never tasted the stuff, so maybe I am not the target consumer. I don’t know what Canadian drinkers have replaced it with. Nor do I care.

I have refrained from commenting on some of the other things Hoekstra has said since he was first appointed to the position. I wanted to give him time to grow into the job. He was a rookie after all and should be forgiven when he makes rookie mistakes. But he has had enough time on the job to learn how diplomacy works. Or doesn’t work.

Hoekstra seems to have a tendency to lecture Canadians on how they should feel about their relationship to the U.S. He apparently ghooses to forget that recent American policies have been designed to foster a dislike of a country whose president denies Canada’s right to exist.

Whether American alcohol is available in Canadian stores would seem to me to be a minor issue, not worthy of ambassadorial attention. It is a symptom of a much larger problem.

Making American alcohol available in Canada once more without resolving the larger issues would merely be treating the symptom while ignoring the disease. Maybe the ambassador might take a look at what can be done to fix what increasingly looks like a broken relationship.

Isn’t that his job?

After I wrote this post, the American Congress decided to get involved in the alcohol issue also. My response to the CANADA Act tomorrow.