N.S. spent $1.2. million on controversial wine subsidy program from January to March

Finance and Treasury Board Minister Allan MacMaster speaks to reporters before tabling the provincial budget at the Nova Scotia legislature in Halifax on February 29, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese

HALIFAX — After months of silence, the Nova Scotia government finally revealed the total figure spent on a wine subsidy program that caused many of the province's winemakers to feel sour.

Finance Minister Allan MacMaster told reporters Thursday the province allocated $1.2 million to two wine bottling companies in Nova Scotia between January and March.

Until now, the province shared minimal details of the support provided to Nova Scotia's two wine bottling companies.

MacMaster said the government released the figures because the amount was going to "come out in the public accounts anyway."

When the subsidy program was first announced, winemakers complained it helped the province's two bottling companies import cheaper grape juice and push local producers off the shelves at the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation.

Premier Tim Houston in March paused the subsidy program and created a working group tasked with coming up with a new measure that would satisfy all the players in the province's wine industry.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 12, 2024.

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