The B-C Wine Institute is going to court to try to end Alberta's ban on the import of its wines.
Institute Chair, Christa-Lee McWatters, says the group surveyed members last week about the effects of the ban so far, and results show there's been about a million dollar impact since the ban was enacted on the February 6th.
McWatters says the ban is unconstitutional:
"We believe that this is unconstitutional because it prohibits the import of Canada goods into another province based solely on where they come from. All Canadians should be concerned because if this is just one -- wine that's prohibited -- based on province of origin, so could other products be."
There are 276 wineries and 923 grape growers in the BC wine industry employing more than 12-thousand people.
The BC government is also challenging the ban, and has requested consultations under the Canadian free trade agreement's dispute settlement process. But that process could take months.
Alberta instituted the ban in retaliation for BC's decision to disallow increased bitumen shipments to the BC coast pending consultation on whether the tarsands product could be cleaned up if spilled into cold, churning, ocean waters.