British Columbia began pulling American alcohol from government liquor stores Sunday in a show of defiance against punishing new tariffs levelled against Canada by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon, who is chair of the premier’s cabinet war room on tariffs, pitched in at a BC Liquor store in Vancouver’s South Cambie neighbourhood, where staff were removing alcohol from Republican states. That included Jack Daniels (from Tennessee), Bacardi Rum (from Florida), Titos Vodka (from Texas), as well as Jim Beam and Bulleit Bourbon (from Kentucky).

“No one wants to be here,” Kahlon said to reporters. “This is completely avoidable. Yet we are here and we are going to respond.

“For some people in the U.S., perhaps Donald Trump, they took our kindness for weakness,” said Kahlon. “And we do love our American cousins, but we will not stand by for this type of action.”

It was an immediate, but largely symbolic, move by the province. You could liken it to a mosquito biting an elephant — it’s unlikely the world’s greatest economic superpower will even notice the annoyance.

From here on out, the choices on how to respond become more difficult for Premier David Eby’s government. In some cases they’ll require a major realignment of........

© BIV