The Liquor Control Board of Ontario is not for sale – but apparently social responsibility is.
Last week, Finance Minister Greg Sorbara announced that the provincial government is considering the “modernization” of Ontario liquor laws. One possibility on the table is the sale of beer and wine in corner stores.
Is this what the Ontario government considers social responsibility? Booze lined up next to milk and bread in grocery stores? Teenagers working late night shifts at beer-stocked 7-Elevens?
Beer and wine in corner stores would make alcohol more widely available. This leads to questions about what would happen to underage drinking rates if this “modernization” occurred. Although laws are in place to prohibit the sale of alcohol to minors, such laws also exist on the sale of cigarettes and this has not stopped young people from obtaining the products they want.
Liquor sales in Alberta became fully privatized in March 1994, meaning private owners were now in charge of the sale of alcohol. According to the Fraser Institute, between 1994 and 1995 all liquor offences in Edmonton increased, including consumption in public places, illegal possession and supply to minors. In 1994, Calgary saw a rise in almost all liquor store related offences, including break and enter, theft over $5,000, dangerous use of a weapon and the sale of alcohol to minors.
New Democrat MPP Marilyn Churley has suggested that the recent announcement is simply “privatization by stealth.” In the spring of 2004, Sorbara fought off reports that he was considering an initial public offering on the LCBO worth more than $10 billion.
Last year alone, the LCBO reported $3.3 billion in pre-tax sales, generating over $1 billion for the province. So could the government really be willing to stop milking its multi-billion dollar cash cow for the chance at a one time mega-deal?
Sorbara insists that this is not a move towards privatizing the LCBO. Many find this hard to believe, though, as just last year the government announced that it would not permit corner store sales of beer and wine, a promise that could be broken this spring when the panel examining the various options delivers its final report.
The vagueness of what options are on the table and how corner-store operations would work can leave one only wondering about the province’s true intentions.
However, private or not, the social implications of alcohol being stockpiled in undersized establishments are vast.
Sorbara has suggested that the panel should carefully consider both social responsibility and consumer convenience and selection.
Unfortunately, it seems that one of these goals can only come at the cost of the other.