Maybe Ontario teachers were on strike back when little Kathleen Wynne and Charles Sousa were there to learn mathematics. It would be the only excuse for the utterly ridiculous decision of the Ontario government to sell part of Hydro One and not the Liquor Control Board stores. As children, our Premier and Finance Minister must have also missed being taught about the goose that laid golden eggs.
They have certainly laid an egg by suggesting that the province should sell 60 per cent of Hydro One. This part of Ontario Hydro does the distribution of electrical service throughout Ontario. Its pricing is entirely under the control of the provincial government and its agencies. It pays a reasonable dividend to the province of a controlled ten per cent into provincial coffers every year. By selling off 60 per cent of Hydro One you are giving up 60 per cent of that dividend and subjecting the board of Hydro One to constant pressure by the new shareholders to improve the profitability.
The point is Hydro One was never designed to be a stand-alone company. It is an integral part of the electrical services in the province. Since it is a monopoly, it only makes sense for it to remain a crown corporation.
Beer and booze are not integral to anything political except repressive control and lots of taxes. The difference is you can rent out this goose to lay some golden eggs for entrepreneurial retailers. The province still gets all the taxes. That is what makes selling the Liquor Control Board stores a brilliant move. The province can make more money from better distribution, convenience and better merchandising than it ever did before. And a smart sell-off of the LCBO stores can produce more than $9 billion in cash for other projects.
And we can also stand and admire the political wisdom of our sage leaders.
Sharing this wisdom with an old friend the other day, he said: “But I like the LCBO stores.” The good news for him is that in selling off the LCBO stores there will be many of them that stick with the old boring institutional style of selling booze. They will suit his comfort level.
For those of us excited by venturesome merchandising, weekly specials, special buys and case lots, there will be entrepreneurs out there to meet our needs. And convenience stores can provide the occasional six pack or that emergency bottle of bingo to go with our Kraft Dinner tonight.
Any Ontario resident who is satisfied with the how this government wants to retail alcoholic beverages is hardly likely to have any appreciation of good wines, single malt scotches or craft beers.
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Copyright 2015 © Peter Lowry
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