Breweries Leave CBANS After ‘Apologist’ Tweets About Mi’kmaq Lobster Dispute
HALIFAX — At least two breweries have left the Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia after the organization’s executive director got into a Twitter spat with supporters of Indigenous Fishers.
Big Spruce Brewing Company and North Brewing left CBANS yesterday after executive director Kirk Cox’s personal tweets surfaced.
Cox recently used his personal Twitter account to weigh in on violence being directed toward Mi’kmaq fishers by non-indigenous, commercial fishers.
For several weeks, commercial fishers have attacked and harassed Mi’kmaq fishers attempting to exercise their right to a moderate livelihood fishery.
RCMP have charged a man for assaulting Sipekne’katik Chief Mike Sack after groups of commercial fishers last week surrounded lobster facilities where Indigenous fishers store their catches. The facilities were ransacked, lobsters were killed, and a facility was later set on fire.
Replying to several Twitter users who were condemning that violence, Cox wrote: “From your den in HRM if you think all fishermen in LFA 34 are racists you should be ashamed.”
Replying to another user, who said they will only be eating lobster from Mi’kmaq fishers, Cox also wrote: “if you think you can lump a whole industry into one incident I have Lada to sell you.”
“Indigenous and non-Indigenous leaders need to condemn violence not just when the other side does it, but when all sides do it,” Cox also tweeted.
Brewers Call Cox’s Tweets ‘Apologist’
Several local breweries have called Cox out for what they see as his apologist’s point of view towards commercial fishers and his attempt to downplay their violent acts.
“We strongly condemn apologist points of view towards what [has rightly been] called domestic terrorism,” North Brewing tweeted Oct. 19 about Cox’s statements. “This is not a time to downplay violence [perpetrated] against Mi’kmaq fishers. We are making our position known to CBANS and will be leaving the association.”
In a statement to Huddle later that day, North Brewing’s Peter Burbridge said the brewery was leaving CBANS because he and his partners don’t believe it reflects their business’ values.
On Twitter, Stillwell also called Cox’s comments unacceptable.
“Kirk likely has friends or [family] in the fishery and dislikes seeing ‘good people’ called racists. Sure, but sit down. This isn’t about that [or] you! Treaty rights are being violated and violence is happening while the RCMP and our federal government are standing by idly.”
Stillwell didn’t respond to Huddle’s request for comment but doesn’t appear to be leaving CBANS.
Big Spruce co-owner Jeremy White says Cox’s statements also spurred his brewery’s decision to leave.
“The existence or not of non-racist, non-Indigenous fishers is not the issue and his statements clearly just completely miss that point,” White told Huddle in a phone interview. “I think he needs to realize the words he chose at the very least deflect from the core issue and that makes them wrong.”
In an email to Huddle, Cox said he was “in no way was condoning the disgusting and criminal behaviour toward the Indigenous fishers in southwestern Nova Scotia.”
“My comment via my personal account was to express the fact that there are many fishers in the region who are not racists, want a peaceful resolution, and are working constructively with Indigenous people to do so. I was simply responding to an assertion on social media that the whole region was racist,” he wrote.
He declined to comment on Big Spruce and North leaving the CBANS, saying “it’s best to let breweries speak to their decisions on that.”
Concerns Run Deeper Than One Incident
White said Big Spruce’s decision to leave CBANS was set off by Cox’s tweets but is ultimately about more than just this one incident.
He believes the organization has exhibited a pattern of decisions that call into question how much it cares about working for its entire membership and promoting ideas of inclusion, discrimination, and safety in the workplace.
He pointed to an incident last year when Nine Locks Brewing Company faced backlash over what many considered a misogynist marketing campaign for its Dirty Blonde Ale.
White wanted to see CBANS take a strong stand against the campaign but feels the organization passed the buck and let its membership down with its response.
He also takes issue with some of the advertising campaigns CBANS has run itself and thinks the organization hasn’t done enough to create a safe and welcoming culture in the craft beer industry.
“It’s just, jeez: missed opportunities, misplaced advertising, no culture in the beer industry, and nobody seeming to do anything about it–and now we’ve got an executive director that’s saying stuff that’s so, so misplaced and just the complete opposite of where we want to stand with our values systems and our business,” White says. “It’s time to just go, this association just isn’t doing anything for us anymore.”
Big Spruce and North Brewing aren’t the only breweries that have recently left CBANS. Spurred by similar concerns, Tidehouse Brewing Company, Lazy Bear Brewing, and 2 Crows Brewing Company have all recently left as well.
Mark Huizink , a co-owner at 2 Crows, told Huddle his brewery left because it also didn’t feel like CBANS was representing the business’ values.
“We felt as though our voices and our values towards the industry, as well as our position on the future of the industry, were not being represented by the association,” he said.
No Word Yet On What Happens Next
White says leaving the main provincial craft beer association will hurt but agreed with Huizink that it makes more sense to work with others in the industry that share his values.
He wouldn’t say what he would like to see happen at CBANS but said an apology from Cox would be “a great first step.”
Reached by phone at her own brewery on October 19, CBANS president Emily Tipton said she doesn’t have a comment on the situation “at this time.” She said the board had yet to properly discuss what happened and did not say what, if any, steps it will take.
Editor’s note: this story was last edited Oct. 21