Sunday, May 04, 2008

New Era on PEI

Quoteth (from this article):

A new era begins on Prince Edward Island Saturday as retailers can once again legally sell canned carbonated beverages for the first time in almost a quarter-century.

The lifting of P.E.I.'s so-called "can ban" is being viewed by Islanders as either a cause for celebration or a day to lament. Prince Edward Island was the only place in North America where pop could only be sold in refillable bottles.

The ban was put in place in 1984 to protect jobs at the local Pepsi bottling plant and to protect the environment.

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I thought the ban was way before 1984 ? I remember a can of pop being a 'status symbol' in the mid 1970s!?

CC

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know you love the island, but that is the weirdest government protection law I have heard in long time (and I've been researching protectionist legislation in the US for work).

Binky said...

As someone affected by this, I think I'd have to agree that it was a odd affair. We could drive an hour and a half and buy cans...

We bought some cans this weekend, but its clear that the refilliable bottles were a whole lot more environmnetally friendly than cans (even with one of North America's best recycling programs).

PEI has more quirky protective legislation: restricying roadside signs (whicj is acyually very nice)and the number fo acres that non-residents can own (only applicable to very large land owners).

M Easter said...

thanks for the notes, MBH and Binky

The Island has a long history of protectionist stuff going on. But when it is nice in the summer, you'd see why ;-)

You would not have believed the brouhaha in the 1990s when they wanted to build a bridge to the mainland. (Ultimately they did)

As an aside, Canada will use legislation more than the US. e.g. Quebec had (has?) an imfamous sign law that mandates that French has to be larger than all other languages. This is culture protection.