Duty-free shop owner says it feels like his B.C. business is a hostage in cross-border trade war [Video]

Cameron Bissonnette, a second-generation duty-free shop owner in Osoyoos, B.C., is facing the harsh reality that his business may no longer be viable for the next generation of his family.

His son and daughter, in their early and mid-20s, have expressed interest in taking over, but that, he says, now seems unlikely.

“I don’t think there’s going to be much here for us, so [they’re] going to have to strike their own path,” he told CBC’s Radio West.

Bissonnette, himself, is also looking ahead, pivoting to a different career in real estate finance.

“I am starting on a [fresh] path… because I could see the writing on the wall,” he said.

His family’s business, located near the U.S. border south of Osoyoos, has relied on cross-border shoppers since the 1980s, when his parents first obtained a permit to open duty-free shops in B.C., one in Osoyoos and another in the East Kootenays.

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