The 25% tariff is effective 4February2025 and will remain in effect until Trump tariffs end.
The Department of Finance product list and backgrounder can be accessed below.
(Trump Tariff Wars) News Release – Manitoba- Sales of United States Alcohol in the Province of Manitoba
February 2, 2025
Manitoba Government to Pull American Alcohol Products Off Shelves
In response to United States President Donald Trump’s tariffs, the Manitoba government is issuing a directive to Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries (MBLL) to stop the sale of American products in the province, Premier Wab Kinew announced today.
“Trump’s tariff tax is an attack on Canadians,” said Kinew. “We support the federal response to these tariffs and here in Manitoba, we’re stopping the sale of American products at Manitoba liquor marts. How you choose to spend your money is one of the most important decisions you as a consumer can make. There are plenty of great Manitoba breweries and distilleries to support instead.”
Effective Tuesday, Feb. 4, MBLL will be directed to pull American products off the shelves of liquor marts and will stop ordering American alcohol, the premier noted.
The premier added the province will roll out more supports for Manitoba businesses and workers throughout the week in response to the U.S. tariffs.
Manitoba’s U.S. Trade Council will meet on Monday to discuss the impacts of the tariffs and the province’s response.
For more information, Manitoba businesses or workers impacted by tariffs can contact the Manitoba government tariff hotline at 1-877-827-4330 (toll-free) or 204-945-8011, Manitoba Government Inquiry at 204-945-3744 or visit https://manitoba.ca/tariffresponse/.
RKS Trumpian Tariff War: The Province of Nova Scotia Removes All United States Liquor from Its Stores
The Premier of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, Tim Huston, announced he will direct the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation to remove all United States alcohol from its shelves effective 4February2025.
RKS Trumpian Tariff War: British Columbia To Restrict U.S. Liquor Sales
Premier David Eby of the Canadian province of British Columbia announced countermeasures on 2February2025 to “stand up” for British Columbian workers and businesses after the United States announced incoming tariffs of 25% on incoming goods and 25% on Canadian energy.
As a first step the British Columbia Liquor Distribution Branch will immediately stop purchasing liquor from “red states” and remove the top selling “red state” brands from the shelves of public liquor stores”.
Premier Eby provided no definition of “red state” in his statement but traditionally such term means any state that awarded a majority of electoral votes to President Trump in the last United States Presidential election. States with significant wine production imported into British Columbia would be California, Washington and Oregon and all such states are “blue States” (Democratic).
The top five states importing into British Columbia are Washington ($9.8 billion), California ($3.2 billion), Illinois ($2.1 billion), Texas ($1.5 billion) and Oregon ($1.3 billion). Other than Texas all such states are blue.
RKS 2025 Wine: A South African Red Blend
This Kloof Street Swartland Rouge is a blend of Syrah (41%), Grenache (32%), Tinta Barocca (17%) and Cinsault (10%) which have been fermented using indigenous yeasts.
From sustainably farmed vineyard parcels in different parts of the Swartland, up to 48 years in age: Two parcels of Syrah and one parcel of Cinsault and Grenache from the stony shale and schist based soils of Roundstone Farm on the Kasteelberg; and one parcel of dry land, bushvine Syrah, and Tinta Barocca, planted in the decomposed granite soils of the Paardeberg.
The wine spent 11 months in 3rd and 4th fill French oak 225L barrels & 500L demi-muids.
Aroma: Enveloped in moderate oak with an occasional whiff of may I say “almost traditional” earthiness of so many South African reds. Bright red cherry, ripe raspberry with hints of cranberry.
Palate: Light on the tannins but don’t expect silky and smooth. Chalky and delicate bitterness. Slightly reticent with its fruit which might emerge more prominently with some ageing.
Personality: Fresh but not sassy.
Food Match: Fully condimented Southern Cali cheeseburger with Waffle Fries.
Cellarbility: Give it until 2026 to flourish. Will sail through to 2028.
Price: $24.95 CDN.
RKS 2025 Wine Rating: 89/100. Timatkin.com 93.
(Swartland Rouge, 2022 Kloof Street, W.O. Swartland, Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines, Malmesbury, South Africa).
RKS 2025 Film: “Exhibiting Forgiveness”: Bible Thumpers Curing Horrific Wrongs?
Forgiveness is an essential component of Christian and mindfulness ideology. Forgiving is perceived as liberating and healing. But are there certain dastardly and evil deeds that simply can’t be forgiven such as the endless episodes of genocide plaguing world history? Tarrell (André Holland) is a black artist seemingly living the good life, a real up and comer with a musician wife and a son. He drives a vintage Mercedes. He lives in a beautiful house with an enormous studio. Everything perfect right?
Not really as Tarrell suffers from nightmares leaving him waking up in a panic or a rage. Flashes in his mind of a nail on a board, a lawnmower, fire in a drum, glass shattering etc. Eventually it is revealed his once loving father had morphed into a crackhead turning into an abusive monster abusing Tarrell and his mother to the point after numerous relapses he is living in the street in a dirty disheveled state wheeling around a shopping cart with his belongings.
Beaten and bloodied by an armed robber in a liquor store robbery he limps to his brother who cleans him up but as he has robbed his brother and wife blind he is not welcome in their house. He is accepted by a pastor giving him refuge in a dank basement on the condition he attend recovery meetings to the point he has recovered, yet again, and has become somewhat of a Bible Thumper.
Tarrell’s mother, a Bible Thumper, begs Tarrell to forgive his monstrous father as the Bible says if you can’t forgive a person, you will not be able to forgive yourself. After an argument with Tarrell she is hospitalized and on her death bed due to a preexisting condition. Will the film be yet another sappy dysfunctional family saved on the deathbed wishes genre? Only partially and that along with solid acting throughout makes the film a worthy watch.
Available on VOD now.
Directed and written by Titus Kaphar.
RKS 2025 Film Rating 79/100. You may watch the trailer here https://www.imdb.com/video/vi343590425/?ref_=tt_vi_i_1
RKS Literature: The Perpetual Sentence in the Gulag (Solzhenitsyn)
“Another thing the searchers looked for in the morning: men wearing civilian dress under prison clothes. Never mind that everybody had been stripped of his civilian belongings long ago and told that he’d get them back the day his sentence ended (a day nobody in the camp had yet seen).”
“One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich”, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, 1962.
RKS Literature: Everyone Taking Their Cut of Bread at the Gulag (Solzhenitsyn)
“Shukov had drawn a few thousand bread rations in jails and prison camps, and though he’d never had the chance to weigh his portion on the scales, and anyway was too timid to kick up a fuss and demand his rights, he knew better than most prisoners, that a bread cutter who gave full measure wouldn’t last long at the job. Every portion was underweight-the only question was by how much. Twice a day you looked at it and tried to set your mind at rest. Maybe it’s only a couple of grams short.”
“One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” Alexander Solzhenitsyn, 1962.
RKS 2025 Wine: An $8.99 USD Pinot Noir in Palm Springs, California
At one end of Palm Springs at 350 South Palm Canyon Drive there lies a Grocery Outlet a discount grocery store with an interior about as warm as the minus 22 temperatures I left Toronto in.
This section of Palm Springs boasts a Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture and Design Centre and an Eisenhower Medical Centre but it is dotted with failed retail operations. To its right there is a large Mexican family style restaurant and an enormous Brazilian Steak House. Opposite a Bev-Mo high end liquor store, a haircutting salon and a Green Dragon cannabis outlet. Outside the Grocery Outlet invariably there are some raunchy characters but being in the desert the need for water calls. Aside from enormously cheap Cali pistachios there is a somewhat decent wall of inexpensive Cali red and white wines.
I picked up an $8.99 bottle of 2022 Lattitude Sonoma County Pinot Noir as after all with the Canadian dollar the way it is it just about drove me to a $4.99 Blush.
I couldn’t help notice the tyrannical rule of Cali Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and a smidge of Pinot Noir. I also noticed a few labels at about the third of the price you would pay at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario.
In for water out with pistachios (cheap!!), bottle of Pinot Noir, Kettle potato chips (delicious) and two bottles of still Italian water. What were Canadian chemicalized cinnamon buns doing in the bakery section? Trump tariffs will take care of that.
The sign above my Pinot Noir declared “regularly priced at $30”. A further search on the internet showed this Pinot Noir selling between $12-15 USD.
Aroma: Loaded with black fruit particularly blackberry, super rich black raspberry with a twist of mocha. An aggressive Pinot Noir.
Palate: Somewhat tannic for a Pinot Noir and chock full of black fruit with a medium long finish tinged by white pepper. Smooth.
Personality: A Pinot Noir for the American mases and the Canadian middle class.
Cellarbility: Consume in 2025.
Food Match: Berkshire Pork.
Price: $8.99 USD.
RKS 2025 Wine Rating: 88/100.
(Lattitude 2022 Sonoma County Private Reserve Pinot Noir, California, 750 mL, 14.3%).
RKS 2025 Film: “Timestalker”: Disturbing Pyscho Horror Thriller
The film community apparently categorizes “Timestalker” as comedic. If there is humour, I would say it is an attempt at such that transforms itself to generate a powerfully disturbing film documenting a dangerous delusional stalker. Initially one might strain to identify humour but it is weak and it is the splendiferous acting of Alice Lowe as Agnes that prevents the power off button from being pressed. Be patient I say!
As the film wends toward its conclusion the apparent humour retrospectively transforms into horror and terror. The small clip in the film about the murder of John Lennon by Mark David Chapman was not random. It strikes at the essence of the film.
Agnes is a character in 1688, 1793, 1847,1940,1986 and 2117 and falls for Alex in each of these periods but is unlucky in love often losing her life before her love for Alex is “consummated”. Alex is an unworthy cad. As Agnes’ failures mount her determination, or is it an unhealthy obsession, grows in intensity where she is no longer “the killed” but the killer. Listen closely to her psychiatrist in the 1980 segment.
I won’t discount the comedy here and the subtle mockery of the 1980 Brit pop scene is a gem. The costuming is stellar.
Take it as a comedy the film largely fails. Take it as something much much darker I am almost tempted to say it is brilliant with a simulated French cinema crossed with a Rocky Horror Picture Show curtain closer conclusion.
Alice Lowe directs.
RKS 2025 Film Rating 88/100.
In United States theatres and On Demand 14February2025.
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