Law360 Canada ( July 26, 2018, 8:55 AM EDT) -- Applications by Steam Whistle Brewing Inc. (Steam Whistle) and Great Western Brewing Company Ltd. (Great Western) for declarations that mark-up on liquor was unconstitutional. The Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission (AGLC) collected a mark-up on liquor it sold to private retailers. The AGLC applied different mark-up rates to different classes of liquor. Historically, it applied higher rates to beer produced by large, multinational corporations than to beer produced by small, domestic craft brewers. Prior to Oct. 28, 2015, the lower mark-up rate applied to all craft beer produced anywhere in Canada. On that date a new mark-up regime came into force (2015 regime) that gave favourable treatment to craft beer produced in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. Shortly thereafter, Steam Whistle, an Ontario craft brewer, commenced an action against the AGLC, claiming that the regime was unconstitutional. On Aug. 5, 2016, the mark-up regime was again altered (2016 regime). Under the 2016 regime, all brewers were charged the same rate. However, Alberta simultaneously created a program which provided Alberta craft brewers with a grant identical to the difference they paid under the 2015 and 2016 mark-ups. Great Western, a Saskatchewan craft brewer, then sued the AGLC. Steam Whistle and Great Western argued that the mark-up was a tax that violated s. 53 of the Constitution Act. They also argued that the mark-up constituted a barrier to interprovincial trade that violated s. 121 of the Act. They sought declaratory relief and restitution of amounts paid under the mark-up....