Get government out of beer sales!
Episode Stats
Words per minute
178.7395
Summary
Never doubt government's ability to ruin a good thing. And when I say good thing, I'm talking about one of the most universally beloved substances in Canada, beer. Yes, beer is something that Canadians have as a source of pride, but it's also mired in bureaucracy and government monopolization, especially in the province of Ontario, where thanks to a sweetheart deal by past provincial governments, giant beer companies have a virtual monopoly on the biggest beer retail operation. It's got a great name, but ultimately speaking, it's a monopoly. And it's this store that has a great say and clout in what beer brands Ontario residents can buy, what prices they pay, when they can shop and where they can buy them.
Transcript
00:00:00.000
Never doubt government's ability to ruin a good thing.
00:00:05.000
And when I say good thing, I'm talking about one of the most universally beloved substances in Canada, beer.
00:00:11.000
Yes, beer is something that Canadians have as a source of pride,
00:00:15.000
but it's also mired in bureaucracy and government monopolization,
00:00:22.000
where thanks to a sweetheart deal by past provincial governments,
00:00:26.000
giant beer companies have a virtual monopoly on the biggest beer retail operation in the province, the beer store.
00:00:34.000
It's got a great name, it's got some great products, but ultimately speaking, it's a monopoly.
00:00:39.000
And it's this store that restaurants in the province have to go through.
00:00:43.000
It's this store that has a great deal of say and clout in what beer brands Ontario residents can buy,
00:00:49.000
what prices they pay, when they can shop and where.
00:00:53.000
And it is just plain wrong, especially in 2019.
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Now we've seen little drips and drabs of evolution on this.
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For example, beer being allowed in some grocery stores under the previous Liberal government,
00:01:06.000
but that was the same government that signed a massive deal with the beer store in the first place,
00:01:14.000
Well, the new provincial government under Doug Ford has done away with this.
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They've introduced legislation that will effectively rip up this contract.
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And my goodness, the fear mongering in response from these big multi-billion dollar beer companies
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and the union representing beer store employees.
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They're saying that thousands and thousands of jobs will be lost, billions of dollars will be lost.
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Their belief seems to be that if the beer store isn't there as a government monopoly, no one will buy beer.
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That the entire business model seems to exist because of government.
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Well, the business model in its current form does, but the great thing about free markets is that
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when you take government out of the way, anyone has an opportunity to play ball,
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which means better choices for consumers, better convenience, and better products ultimately.
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Now, what the beer store is saying here is that its monopoly helps keep prices down.
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Now, I'm not sure there's a single instance in history when a monopoly has done anything but drive prices up,
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But this is a prime example of why governments should never get into these types of deals in the first place.
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Because now when government is trying to get out of this deal,
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oh, but this is going to happen and it's going to cost this much
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and we're going to have to do this and this will be the impact.
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It's often not seamless to get out of a bad deal.
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Governments need to stay out of these bad deals in the first place,
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which is where we need to look at alcohol liberalization as being one of the key priorities in Canada.
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Not because alcohol is the top priority for a country,
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but alcohol is often where we see the greatest examples of needless bureaucracy
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and age-old antiquated legislation that does nothing for Canadians.
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Take, for example, the issues you'll have if you want to bring alcohol between one province to another.
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Gerard Camot is a prime example of this, took his case all the way up to the Supreme Court,
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which protected provinces' ironclad grip on alcohol importations,
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despite the constitutional guarantee of free movement between provinces.
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Look at these massive government liquor operations in provinces from west to east,
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the LCBO, the SAQ, pretty much every province but Alberta.
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And yeah, we may be able to celebrate the little victories here and there,
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such as being able to pick up a bottle of wine at a grocery store.
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But this doesn't deal with the overwhelming crisis of no choice for Canadian consumers
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when it comes to alcohol unless government decides to grant the choice.
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Let us buy beer, let us buy wine, let us buy spirits,
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and for the businesses in the provinces across the country, let them sell it.