On This Day: When moonshine was rampant on P.E.I.

In the 1980s, buying alcohol in P.E.I. was more expensive than anywhere else in the country — meaning many Islanders turned back to the "tradition" of making and drinking moonshine.

Fifth Estate report from May 19, 1982, takes a close look at moonshine on P.E.I.

Jesara Sinclair · CBC News · Posted: May 19, 2018 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: May 19, 2018

Reporter Robert McKeown samples P.E.I. moonshine as part of his reporting on the story. (CBC Digital Archives)

In the 1980s, buying alcohol in P.E.I. was more expensive than anywhere else in the country — so many Islanders turned back to the "tradition" of making and drinking moonshine.

"The moonshiner is back in business," said CBC's Robert McKeown in a report that aired on The Fifth Estate on April 19, 1982. "If Prince Edward Island is the birthplace of Confederation, it's also the birthplace of moonshine in Canada."

CBC Digital Archives | Moonshine on the Island

McKeown reported that arrests involving moonshiners at that time had increased 500 per cent over the last two years.

'It's cheaper'

"I like to drink," explained a man identified only as "Henry," who had been making moonshine with a small still in his basement for about six years. "It's cheaper."

In 1982, CBC reported that arrests involving moonshiners at that time had increased 500 per cent over the last two years. (CBC Digital Archives)

And that came with a cost — at a time when the Island's population was around 125,000 people, there were 52 chapters of Alcoholics Anonymous along with several residential treatment centres.

Dr. Leo Killorn, who ran the Alcohol and Drug Treatment Institute in Charlottetown, linked moonshine to problem drinking and alcoholism.

"If they are basically drinking for the effect rather than the sociability of it then they obviously can get just a big a bang or maybe more so out of shine then they can out of the ordinary bottled liquor," he said.

Dr. Leo Killorn leads a meeting for problem drinkers. (CBC Digital Archives)

'Virtually impossible' to shut down

Moonshine was also illegal — to make, sell or drink — and two RCMP officers on P.E.I. were dedicated to cracking down on illegal alcohol.

"With the economy the way it is, I suppose there's more and more people realize they can make a profit off it," said one of those officers, Const. Darryl Aucoin.

Const. Darryl Aucoin was one of two RCMP officers tasked with cracking down on illegal alcohol in P.E.I. Here, he shows McKeown a recently-seized still. (CBC Digital Archives)

Aucoin admitted it would be "virtually impossible" to shut moonshining down entirely.

"All we can do as an investigative section is to try to step up enforcement so people become more aware of the lethal parts of shine and if possible make the moonshiner a little more cognisant we're around and force them to slow down their business," he said.

"Nothing in the following story will surprise Prince Edward Islanders, but it will be an eye-opener for the rest of us," McKeown said.