Beer Petition Has Been Read at Queen’s Park

Derek Forward’s End the Beer Store Monopoloy petition was read yesterday at Queen’s Park. The next step according to the rulebook is for the Legislative Assembly to provide a response. They have 24 days to do so – that means we can expect something by November 5. (If you haven’t been following Derek’s End the Beer Store campaign you can catch up here).

In the meantime, Derek wants us to contact Premier Dalton McGuinty so he knows that people care about this issue. Here are the Premier’s contact details:

Tel: 416-325-1941

Fax: 416-325-3745

Email: dmcguinty.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org

Address: Honorable Dalton McGuinty, Room 281, Main Legislative Building, Queen’s Park, Toronto, ON  M7A 1A4

Also contact your own member of government and tell them what you think. Here is a list with address and contact details. The more noise we make, the greater the odds of ending the archaic Beer Store monopoly.

 

The Archaic LCBO upholds the Equally Archaic 1928 Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act

I recently stumbled upon a gem of a Canadian law called the 1928 Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act (IILA). This is one of those truly silly pieces of legislation enacted in the prohibition era to “save” Canadians from the evil of drink. Somehow it has survived till now.

Basically the IILA prevents the importation into a province of any “intoxicating” liquor that has not been purchased on behalf of and consigned to the government liquor body of the province. Among other things this means that if, say, a Quebecer visits an Ontarian winery website and wants to order a bottle of wine direct from the winery – they can’t. It contradicts the good old 1928 Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act.

The IILA is one of three acts along with the Liquor Control Act and the Liquor Licence Act that cements the LCBO monopoly in place. Knock it out and Ontarian consumers would be able to bypass the LCBO by purchasing directly from out of province wineries and breweries. Restaurants too would benefit by having access to a greater selection, cutting out the LCBO middleman. Small and medium size wineries would benefit by having a means to efficiently link with their consumers rather than having to go through the monolithic LCBO bureacracy. 

I only learnt about the IILA because Mission Hill, a winery in British Columbia, was recently taken to task by the LCBO for allowing Ontarians to purchase wine directly (story here). We should all be grateful to the LCBO for upholding this vital 1928 law and protecting us from those dirty British Columbians and their swill.

Of course the LCBO didn’t do this to protect Ontarians. It did it because it doesn’t like competition. If enough of us start to order wine directly from B.C., that means we won’t be buying it at the LCBO for a large markup. And that would be a threat to the juicy salaries that LCBO execs get.

Perhaps in the old days the law made sense. Or maybe not. But in todays electronic day and age where we buy stuff from people all over the world using the internet, why do we still have a law from 1928 that prevents Ontarians from transacting with other Canadians?