RCMP, province send confusing signals about cross-border liquor shopping

There's confusion about whether New Brunswickers can legally drive to Quebec and bring back large amounts of booze in the wake of last Friday's high-profile court ruling.

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The RCMP and the provincial government are not saying whether someone will be charged if they appear to violate Section 134(b) of the Liquor Control Act.

Const. Jullie Rogers-Marsh of the RCMP says the force is studying the decision "in conjunction with" Crown prosecutors.

Last Friday, Judge Ronald LeBlanc acquitted Gérard Comeau of Tracadie by striking down Section 134(b), which says New Brunswickers can't "have or keep liquor" that wasn't bought from the New Brunswick Liquor Corporation.

The judge said it violated Section 121 of the Constitution, which says goods from one province should be "admitted free into each of the other provinces."

But there's no clear signal to other New Brunswickers on what happens if they are pulled over during their own cross-border liquor runs.

Rogers-Marsh said it's not up to the RCMP to decide how widely the ruling applies.

"Any questions related to whether the law is still in effect, that would be the province that would need to answer those questions," she said.

Province says police can decide

But Public Safety Minister Stephen Horsman said Tuesday he would not tell the RCMP what to do if they pull over people with cross-border beer because he doesn't have any role in administering the force or laying charges.

"I will leave it up to the judgement of the police officers," he said. "I won't tell police departments what to do."

Horsman did offer that "the law is still the law" and that the police will "continue to do their jobs … continue to do it as they did yesterday," while the province considers what to do next.

The attorney general's office has until near the end of this month to decide whether to appeal the ruling.

LeBlanc's decision says Section 134(b) is "of no force or effect as against Gérard Comeau."

But University of Moncton law professor Nicolas Lambert told CBC News Monday that it wouldn't make sense for the section to be used to prosecute other New Brunswickers.

"We can't have a statute that's struck down for one person and that exists for everyone else," he said.