This is not ideological. It has nothing to do with right or left wing politics. Selling the Liquor Control Board of Ontario to private citizens has nothing whatsoever to do with the private versus public sector. It is a simple question of good economics and what is the best system of distribution for the citizens of Ontario.
And forget all that crap about the evils of demon rum. Liquor, wine, beer and other alcoholic beverages are commercial products. They create a chain of cash flow and profit from ingredients to the consumer. For the government to be in total control of this commercial chain is bad economics, a constraint of trade and fails to benefit the taxpayers of our province. It is not only something out of an anal retentive past in Ontario but has continued out of ignorance.
Most people think a $1.7 billion a year profit from the LCBO is a big deal. It is not. The LCBO is a complete entity that means jobs, transportation, supplies, construction, utilities and the myriad expenses of business. It just lacks the entrepreneurial freedom to compete, to grow, to experiment, to risk, to specialize and to merchandise effectively. The government throttles the potential of the LCBO with bureaucracy, political constraints and myopic rules. A monopoly will, by definition, stagnate. In a monopoly, the business of booze cannot be all that it can be.
Some think we would be selling the goose and that would be the end of the golden eggs. The growth in liquor taxes, payroll taxes and business taxes from entrepreneurial liquor and wine stores will more than compensate for the supposed loss of the profits. The billions the province makes from privatizing will be cash in the bank for taxpayers.
First and foremost, the Ontario voter has earned the right to walk to his or her corner convenience store and buy a six-pack of beer or a bottle of Ontario wine. The politician who disagrees with this is wallowing in ignorance and is uncaring. He or she should never be elected to the legislature.
But it is the more progressive politician we should support. It is the politician who sees not only the opportunity to upgrade convenience stores but to expand the scope of our grocery outlets and to improve the knowledge, service, market sensitivity and merchandising in our local—privatized–liquor stores. We need to welcome these progressive politicians to the 21st Century.
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Copyright 2014 © Peter Lowry
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