Jim Pettinger has a message for Stephen Harper and Helle Thorning-Schmidt: Settle down and have a beer.
The manager of a downtown Edmonton liquor store has collaborated with a Danish brewer on a beer designed to help end the Canada-Denmark dispute over Hans Island, a forlorn and uninhabited slice of rock in the North Atlantic between Canada’s Ellesmere Island and Greenland, which is controlled by Denmark.
Each country claims the barren patch as its own.
Now Pettinger is inviting the prime ministers of the two countries over for a taste and a chat.
“The first one to get back to me gets the guest bedroom, the second can sleep on the couch,” said Pettinger, purchasing manager at Edmonton’s Sherbrooke Liquor Store. “I just wanted to prove Danes and Canadians can get along.”
Just under 1,000 bottles of Hans Across the Water were brewed by Martin Jensen of Ugly Duck Brewing, a tiny Danish craft brewery.
“If two civilized countries cannot agree on a subject as relatively simple as this — where are we?” said Jensen via e-mail.
If the leaders can share a beer, they can share an island, Jensen says.
“No one addresses the issue at hand — this is about oil and money, not about borders. Have the powers at be share a brew and agree on a joint venture (exactly as Jim and I did) and everything will work out. 50 per cent of the proceeds to each nation,” Jensen added.
The brew’s slogan is “make beer not war.” At 10 per cent alcohol, the vanilla flavoured imperial porter packs a hefty punch ....
Afraid I am stil 2 time zones away.
