Fear not fellow Ontarians, we will soon have some beer in some of our supermarkets. We are told that this is all being done to be socially responsible about booze. What it looks like is one huge cash grab.
Step one in the process of making this new(?) liberalized(?) event happen is to have a secret auction to allow 60 out of an estimated 1500 supermarkets (about 1 in 25) offer the government money to let them have a license to sell beer. The secrecy seems to be about how much the government is being given for this privilege?
Step two is the application by the auction winners (those who have paid up) being introduced to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO). These are the people who are always coming up with new and confusing rules for Ontario’s few casinos. It seems they are now going to create rules for selling six-packs of beer in grocery stores. It seems that AGCO is going to issue the licenses to sell beer to these lucky grocery stores. It makes you wonder about the rules and whether you can get your money back if you do not like the rules? And does the sign saying “BEER” have to be smaller than the sign saying “groceries”?
What is wrong with this entire process is that the government does not want the public to know what is going on. Why the secrecy in licensing grocery stores to sell beer? And why can they only sell six-packs? You can get those at your LCBO store if you do not like Beer Stores that smell like stale beer recycling depots.
That is because you still have to take your empties to the Beer Store. That foreign-owned Beer Store operation still has the lock on that recycling operation.
The media tell us that by May of next year we could have more grocery stores (90 more) selling beer. So if you are eager to buy beer at your local grocery store you just need to be patient. By the time of the next provincial election there might be as many as 450 grocery stores selling beer. Why less than a third of the large grocery stores in Ontario will be allowed the privilege of selling six-packs of beer is supposed to be socially responsible.
Every year there will be more stores selling six-packs and more publicity for the generous government at Queen’s Park that is master minding this brilliant change in how we buy beer. And do not forget dear voter, this is all being done in a socially responsible way. And probably profitable too!
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Copyright 2015 © Peter Lowry
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