Apéritif - 1 Story

1) Tjæren er kjennetegnet (Lars Ole Ørjasæter) 2 November 2007
http://www.aperitif.no/?id=109038

In this story the Norwegian journalist states: "Hunter klarte også det kunststykket å eksportere Laphroaig til USA og Canada selv om det var forbudstid, en mørk side av amerikansk historie som startet i 1920." First, if the journalist is talking about Canada and the USA, then would it not be correct to write "...a dark side of Canadian and American history, started in the 1920s? Canadians aren't Americans. Or, a "...dark side of North American history, started in the 1920s? The USA's history is not Canada's history. This journalist is correct about prohibition in the USA, but this is not correct about prohibition in Canada. In the 1920s in Canada, alcohol was sold to Canadians via many provincial government controlled stores (similar to Norway's Vinmonopolet), and alcohol in Canada was legal for "...beverage purposes and its possession and consumption....in a private dwelling[s]. In addition, "A dramatic aspect of the prohibition era [in Canada] was rum running. [In the USA] by constitutional amendment, the US was under even stricter prohibition than was Canada from 1920 to 1933: the manufacture, sale, and transportation of all beer, wines, and spirits were forbidden [in the USA]. Liquor legally produced in or imported into Canada was exported legally under Canadian law to its "dry" [USA] neighbour. Smuggling often accompanied by violence, erupted in border areas and along the coastlines. Cartoons showed leaky maps of Canada with Uncle Sam [USA] attempting to stem the alcoholic tide [from Canada]." The journalist is applying the USA's history to the country of Canada not realising the history of this time period is different between the two countries. This is an example where it is either guessed or assumed that Canada's history must be the same as the USA's, so once again blindly apply the USA's history to Canada. In Canada "prohibition was too short-lived [in Canada] for real success. Opponents maintained that it violated [Canada's] British traditions of individual liberty and that settling the matter by referendum or plebiscite was an aberration from Canadian parliamentary practice. [The Canadian province of] Québec rejected it as early as 1919 and became known as the "sinkhole" of North America, but tourists flocked to "historic old Québec" and the provincial government reaped huge profits from the sale of booze. In 1920 [the Canadian province of B[ritish] C[olumbia] voted 'wet' and by the following year [1920] some alcoholic beverages were legally sold there and in the Yukon through government stores. [The province of] Manitoba inaugurated a system of government sale and control in 1923, followed by Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1924, Newfoundland in 1925, Ontario and New Brunswick in 1927, and Nova Scotia in 1930. The last bastion, Prince Edward Island, finally gave up 'the noble experiment' in 1948, though pockets of dryness under local option still exist throughout the land." After contacting Apéritif on the 2nd of November 2007 a reply was received by Aase Jacobsen and the story was updated to state: "Hunter klarte også det kunststykket å eksportere Laphroaig til USA selv om det var forbudstid, en mørk side av amerikansk historie som startet i 1920, samt til Canada." But, this is still not correct, as the history and experiences of Prohibition in the country of was not the same as in the USA. The story has never been corrected to remove the incorrect application of the USA's history to Canada's.