Talk about strange laws (Quebec!)

[cuervo72]

This just makes no sense to me...

http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/...274031-cp.html

Unilever Canada to ask Supreme Court to hear case on yellow margarine in Que.

MONTREAL (CP) - Unilever Canada has asked the Supreme Court of Canada to hear its arguments that Quebec's regulation prohibiting the sale of yellow margarine is invalid and should be repealed.

Unilever said Monday it wants to argue before the high court that Quebec doesn't have the authority to enact regulations to protect its dairy industry.

The company said the ban violates international trade treaties and interprovincial trade agreements in addition to contravening the North American Free Trade Agreement, the World Trade Organization and the Agreement on Internal Trade.

In Quebec, margarine must be white and contain no traces of colour.

Unilever, which has been fighting the issue since the late 1990s, said the Canadian high court should hear the case because it has ramifications beyond regulating trade.

"The case also involves other matters of public importance including the negative impact on Western Canadian oilseed growers and processors due to depressed margarine sales in Quebec," Unilever said in a statement.

Unilever also said the regulation violates the Charger of Rights and Freedoms and contravenes the trade and commerce provisions of the Constitution.

Previously, Unilever has argued the law discriminates against the company because it has to keep two inventories - one of yellow margarine for every other market and the other a white-coloured product for Quebec stores - to conform to Quebec law. That costs Unilever $1 million a year in higher costs.

In October, the Quebec Court of Appeal ruled that margarine will remain white in Quebec.

Unilever Canada is best known for such brands as Becel, Imperial, Lipton, Knorr, Dove, Vaseline and Q-tips.

[FrogMan]

heh, not much to say other than yes, it's a stooopid law... I don't make 'em laws, I simply live by them...

But can you tell me what you are doing on Canoe? There are much better news site out there

FM

[cuervo72]

Originally posted by FrogMan
heh, not much to say other than yes, it's a stooopid law... I don't make 'em laws, I simply live by them...

But can you tell me what you are doing on Canoe? There are much better news site out there

FM

Our intranet has a section for "news" stories, gathered from a couple of different feeds. For whatever reason I decided to check it today and followed a link about a dog mauling death near Denver, reported in the Edmonton Sun. Read a couple of other stories on the site.

[bbor]

Wow

I LOVE seeing tax $$$ spent like this.

[Archer219]

I believe there was a pretty big argument over this in the United States.

In the late 1880s, butter manufacturers convinced (read payed-off) the Senate to disallow the sale of yellow margarine, and a law was passed. In addition, heavy taxes were placed on the sale of margarine.

Margarine manufacturers had to produce white margarine (and in some states even they had to make it pink or red). However, they got around it by supplying the customers with a package of yellow dye that could be added to the margarine.

Anyway, years passed, country got health conscience, and the laws were repealled.

Those crazy Canadians, more than one hundred years behind America.

[fantastic flying froggies]

Who needs margarine anyway ? That stuff is vile...