BC wine industry needs help from gov’t: opposition

BC United is calling on the province to support the local wine industry, as it faces serious pressures due to the cold weather.

BC United Leader Kevin Falcon says losses in the wine industry could negatively impact others too.

“The wine industry is integral to countless communities in our province,” he said. “There would be devastating effects on local economies, tourism and hospitality, and so many families throughout B.C.”

BC United says the weather this season may result in a complete loss of the 2024 vintage. It notes wine producers are facing the possibility of 100 per cent replant, which could mean minimal or negligible cash flows for several years.

The Leader Spirit spoke with the proprietor of Painted Rock winery in Penticton, John Skinner. He says the the freezing event in December of 2022 significantly affected his business’ production, reducing it by 50 to 60 per cent. He’s afraid this will happen again because of the cold weather experienced this January.

“In January, we had an even colder event, we don’t know the ultimate damage,” he said. “But the bud damage has been spectacular, it will reduce our production this year to almost nothing, it is that severe.”

MLA Ian Paton, the BC United Shadow Minister for Agriculture, claims the government is doing nothing to address these losses.

“It is shocking how David Eby and the NDP have done absolutely nothing on this vital issue that impacts so many families in agriculture-dependent communities,” he said. “The NDP’s deafening silence has been noted by everyone from Okanagan tourism operators to hospitality providers, to wine growers themselves. Action is long overdue.”

Westside-Kelowna MLA Ben Stewart tells The Leader Spirit this is the third year the region has hit successive damages from crop injury.

“The crop insurance that growers rely on diminishes as the production goes down, and it’s on a rolling 10 year average,” he said. “The fact that a lot of them squeaked through last year, with crop insurance, I don’t think they’re going to make it this year in terms of being able to pay all their interest payments.”

He adds the most affected people are the growers who work on the frontline, compared to those in wineries.

“A lot of the wineries grow their own grapes, they’re also facing that same loss, but they do have other revenue sources, if they manage it they should hopefully be able to get through, but a lot of them are frightened.”

Stewarts says the province needs to bring the farming community together so that the farmers working on the ground can be heard.

“It’s not about the wine industry, it’s about the primary people … the ones that build crops, we need to make sure they get through and survive this” he said. “Farmers are resilient, they don’t give up easily — it would be devastating from what I see so far.”

BC United is calling on the provincial government to immediately create an emergency working group with the B.C. wine industry and the federal government to develop solutions and identify the level of financial support necessary to survive the shortage, which is expected to last for the next three to four years.

The opposition also wants the government to temporarily expand the existing tax incentives for wines with 100 per cent B.C.-grown grapes.

“The NDP government must immediately take steps to address these two crises facing B.C. wine producers before it is too late,” Falcon said.