The Nova Scotia government says its offer of financial aid to the province’s wine industry is still on the table, despite it being rejected by grape growers.
During a briefing Thursday, officials from the Finance Department said the offer presented to an industry working group last week is fair and compliant with international trade rules.
The offer increases payments to wineries by an additional $1.6 million — for a total of $6.6 million per year — and it gives payments capped at up to $1 million per year to the province’s two commercial wine bottlers.
The department says the funding amounts to a 65-35 per cent split — a ratio based on the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation’s acquisition costs for wines from local wineries and wines from the province’s commercial bottlers.
Officials say the new funding will not take effect by the proposed Oct. 1 date because the wineries don’t want the money, although the government is set to continue talks.
Wine growers say commercial bottlers shouldn’t receive public money, arguing that the province’s offer would effectively subsidize foreign grape juice at the expense of Nova Scotia-grown grapes.