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The Beer Store: Political Reasons to Keep/Kill It

jozl

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The Beer Store (foreign owned monopoly) has got to go. It's ridiculous that we allow foreign owned brewers to fix prices and control access. The Beer Stores are hideously ugly, and inconvenient. For the life of me I don't understand why Ontarians cannot purchase beer in super markets the way it's done in Quebec, Alberta, British Columbians and literally by hundreds of millions of Americans. Canadian beer can be purchased in New York and Michigan for less than we pay here AND it's conveniently sold in supermarkets. I have been arguing this for decades. The Liberal government promised to do away with this anachronistic monopoly back in the 80's but then reneged. In fact, all three political parties receive large donations from the brewers so nothing ever changes.
The latest broken promise by Tim Hudak ("Hudak puts privatizing the beer store on back burner") is now official (Toronto Star article pasted below). What do we need to do to kill The Beer Store and permit free enterprise?

By: Martin Regg Cohn Provincial Politics, Published on Mon May 19 2014
Defying all odds, a clear victor has emerged in Ontario’s wildly unpredictable election campaign.
The big winner is . . . The Beer Store.
You could almost hear the clink of celebratory toasts on Victoria Day as the province’s de facto private beer monopoly cheered its unexpected triumph.
For two years The Beer Store had braced for battle, convinced that if Tory Leader Tim Hudak won power he would free our beer — liberating it from these foreign-owned brewers who control 80 per cent of the retail market (the LCBO gets the rest).
All along, Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne and the NDP’s Andrea Horwath sided with The Beer Store, insisting it wasn’t a problem worth fixing. Would the Progressive Conservatives finally stand up to this well-connected cartel by allowing beer in corner stores?
Just before the holiday weekend, Hudak’s plan fizzled like a beer gone flat.
It didn’t “make the cut” for his campaign platform because “I have to set priorities — and I have big fish to fry,” he explained. “I’ll save that battle for another day.”
Now, his two-year battle plan has been poured down the drain. Why did The Beer Store suddenly become small beer for Hudak?
Back in 2012, the Tory declaration won headlines, raised expectations and rattled the big brewers. It sounded like a vote-winner:
“The province should also end the Beer Store monopoly and allow sales in corner or grocery stores.” You can still read it on Hudak’s personal website.
But The Beer Store is a well-connected cartel. Owned by Canada’s three biggest brewers, it is in turn controlled by the world’s mightiest multinational players: Molson Coors (with head offices in the U.S.); Anheuser-Busch Inbev (based in Belgium and Brazil) and Sapporo (Japan).
Canada’s National Brewers (which speaks for The Beer Store) recently hired Emma Breen — a Hudak family friend and former political staffer in the Mike Harris government — as Ontario vice-president. The big brewers also donate tens of thousands of dollars every year to Ontario’s three main political parties. In 2012, the NDP received more than $38,000 in union donations from various arms of the UFCW union, including $6,000 from its local 12R24, which represents 6,000 workers at The Beer Store.
Beyond political connections or donations, there’s a simpler explanation for why Hudak choked on The Beer Store in the homestretch: He bit off more than he could chew.
The Tories didn’t just promise to liberalize beer sales. They talked about privatizing and deregulating all alcohol distribution across Ontario, including sales of wine and spirits (largely controlled by the LCBO).
If Hudak were to deregulate it all — beer sales plus wine and spirits — he’d be diluting significant cash flow. The LCBO provides more than $1.7 billion in profit to the provincial treasury every year from retail mark-ups. Breaking it up would smash the LCBO’s monopoly power, reducing the money Hudak is counting on for deficit reduction.
There’s good reason to keep the LCBO intact, beyond the cash flow. While it can be improved, it has kept up with the times and offers a pleasant retail experience.
The Beer Store, by contrast, remains frozen in time. Most Ontarians don’t realize that its ossified outlets, which feel like state-owned stores from a bygone era, are not government-owned.
Liberalizing our beer sales doesn’t require any government to privatize The Beer Store, because it’s already privately-owned. The solution is to let other private retailers — not just corner stores, but supermarkets and other large outlets — also compete, while abiding by the same licensing and age restrictions (as with tobacco).
The politically practical way to achieve this is to liberalize beer alone, while leaving the LCBO as is. Hudak may have been reluctant to go only half-way — not just as a self-proclaimed free enterpriser, but because his home riding is in the heart of the wine-producing Niagara region, which also wants wider access. Opening up the tap for beer alone would be awkward for him.
Now the battle is lost. By overreaching — roping in higher-alcohol-content wine and spirits — Hudak dropped the ball on beer. His Liberal and NDP rivals have also ducked.
And so, back to the election campaign.
Which party will win the June 12 vote? Not a clue.
Martin Regg Cohn’s provincial affairs column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. mcohn@thestar.ca , Twitter: @reggcohn
 
Couple of thoughts/questions.....

.....you say "It's ridiculous that we allow foreign owned brewers to fix prices and control access."....isn't it the government that fixes prices? Doesn't the Ontario government set a minimum price that can be charged for beer?

......people who don't like the beer store....always talk about the foreign owned monopoly....I never know if it is the monopoly part they are upset about or the foreign owned part. I remember when there was very little criticism of the beer store (back then it was called Brewer's Retail)....at the time the companies that owned it were Canadian but, I guess, they all got bought by foreign brewers and now the "monopoly" is foreign owned.

.....that said, I am not sure how it is a monopoly as there are other ways to buy beer.....I can't remember when I was last in a beer store but I always have beer in the house....I like the convenience of buying beer at the LCBO at the same time I am stocking up on liquor and wine.....I understand, also, that you can buy beer from any brewer directly at their own stores....so there seem to be 3 options...that is hardly a monopoly.
 
.....that said, I am not sure how it is a monopoly as there are other ways to buy beer.....I can't remember when I was last in a beer store but I always have beer in the house....I like the convenience of buying beer at the LCBO at the same time I am stocking up on liquor and wine.....I understand, also, that you can buy beer from any brewer directly at their own stores....so there seem to be 3 options...that is hardly a monopoly.


It's a near monopoly. The Beer store is a privately-owned stranglehold on the beer market in Ontario. It should have its near-monopoly eliminated. You cannot buy cases of beer at the LCBO. 6 packs are the max. Two 6 six packs will cost you more than a 12 pack at the beer store.

Yes you can go to the brewer to get beer, but do you really expect someone from Sudbury to drive all the way to to Toronto to pick up a case of Mill St? :rolleyes:

Myself and thousands of others, don't have the convenience of having a LCBO near by. I would like the convenience to buy my beer at my local grocery store or corner store. Like they do in every other industrialized nation. Also I like open competition and the sooner The Beer Store is dismantled the better.

You can find more Canadian micro brews at the stores in Buffalo NY than Ontario, that needs to change.
 
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I long for the day that we are treated like adults and permitted to buy beer in grocery and convenience stores. The goddamned world won't come to an end, no matter what the propagandists say. I heard all the same arguments when Sunday shopping finally made it to NS; i.e. how the family unit would be destroyed and the province would lie in a smoldering ruin of rot and decay. But life went on, and all the opponents who argued against it are now in the Home Depots and the malls on Sunday like everyone else in the modern world.

I agree 100% that the Beer Store should lose it's stranglehold on the market.
 
I would like to have an Ontario Craft Brewer Association come together and start a pilot project selling only Ontario beer and ciders. If its smartly placed I believe they would even outpace indie brew sales at the LCBO due to the very limited shelf space (Which not all liquor stores have any)
 
TOareaFan, The fact that The Beer Store is foreign owned only ads insult to injury. It's bad enough that our politicians have been bought off by the brewers's hefty political contributions (all three parties receive funding from them). I grew up in New York State. My friends and I used to try and buy booze when we were under age but we're never successful. Store owners would never risk getting slapped with a big fine and losing their license by selling to minors. If the kid who works at The Beer Store sells to a minor he will be reprimanded but that's it, no penalty is levied. The NDP are the worst. They love The Beer Store because they have a strong union. We pay a premium to the guy behind the counter who hands you your six pack.
The system as it stands is an egregious affront to basic free enterprise and a public insult. The Beer Store contributes nothing to Ontario. They reap huge profits thanks to their government sanctioned monopoly. It has to end.
 
NorthYorkEd, You're correct. Ontario is the land of Chicken Little. The sky was going to fall and the world was going to end if we allowed beer at the ball park, allowed liquor to be sold on Sunday, allowed liquor to be sold in outdoor restaurants, extended drinking hours to 1:00am then to 2:00am, allowed Sunday shopping, got rid of The Ontario Film Review Board (remember that fiasco?). All of these things came to pass and the world didn't end. Politicians work for us, not for the brewers. We need to vigorously remind them of that fact.
By the way, I realize that this is a provincial matter and not a municipal one but it affects our city. Like I often say, Toronto's biggest problem is that it's in Ontario.
 
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It's a near monopoly. The Beer store is a privately-owned stranglehold on the beer market in Ontario. It should have its near-monopoly eliminated. You cannot buy cases of beer at the LCBO. 6 packs are the max. Two 6 six packs will cost you more than a 12 pack at the beer store.

So, get rid of that restriction....let the LCBO sell 24s of beer.

Yes you can go to the brewer to get beer, but do you really expect someone from Sudbury to drive all the way to to Toronto to pick up a case of Mill St? :rolleyes:

Didn't realize that Mill Street was the only brewer that sold beer directly :rolleyes: Perhaps the people in Sudbury could make their way to 1350 Kelly Lake Road, Sudbury, Ontario P3E 5P4 ( www.stackbrewing.ca/ )

Myself and thousands of others, don't have the convenience of having a LCBO near by.

There are that many people in Ontario that don't have one of the 3 beer buying options nearby?
 
I would like to have an Ontario Craft Brewer Association come together and start a pilot project selling only Ontario beer and ciders. If its smartly placed I believe they would even outpace indie brew sales at the LCBO due to the very limited shelf space (Which not all liquor stores have any)

The OCBA is very relunctant of going down this route because they fear that Brewers Retail will pull their listings, even if it was a few stores in urban areas. You wouldn't find Beau's, Mill Street, Flying Monkeys or Muskoka Cottage brews at any Beer Store any longer. I imagine (though I do not know this for sure) that lots of bars and restaurants get their bottles and kegs through Brewers Retail as well. Brick Brewery was once offered a 1% stake in Brewers Retail (which Sleeman's took before being bought by Sapporo), they declined and have regreted it later.

I think the attitudes towards the Beer Store have changed because of the following:

1. The rise of small craft brewers - who face several obstacles to getting their beers listed at the Beer Store (and even the LCBO)
2. A shift in the public attiude that is more willing to liberalize alcohol laws
3. Foreign ownership of a near-monopoly isn't helpful to the cause of maintaining the status quo

The LCBO doesn't sell beer in more than 6-packs because of a business agreement - not due to a particular law.
 
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Everyone: This topic thread should be added to the LCBO/Beer Store section that is in the "Retail" area...

This is a good discussion about the Beer Stores - let's not split it up...LI MIKE
 
Home-brewing might be another option. I've been reading up on it lately and it seems like a fairly accessible hobby and can be done in small enough batches that even someone in a small condo could try it out. It doesn't sound like it's too difficult to produce a more than passable ale, though lagers sound a bit more difficult. Not that it's going to put a dent into the beer store monopoly...
 
Good things about the LCBO: Prices and selection are nearly universal across the province. The stores are well maintained, stock levels and availability are typically good. For a government monopoly you could do worse.

Good things about the Beer Store:
 
I think the most irritating thing about the current situation is selection, however. There are many beers I want to try from around the world, or even from other provinces in Canada, that can never be found on the shelves of the LCBO or Beer Store. I've seen photos of convenience stores from other countries that have a wider selection than even the Summerhill LCBO.
 
I think the most irritating thing about the current situation is selection, however. There are many beers I want to try from around the world, or even from other provinces in Canada, that can never be found on the shelves of the LCBO or Beer Store. I've seen photos of convenience stores from other countries that have a wider selection than even the Summerhill LCBO.


And there is many wines from across Canada that aren't available at the LCBO, because they don't meet the LCBO's strict requirements. Yet i can go to NY state to a wine store and order any wine i want from around the globe. Heck, down there they even have online shopping! You can buy your alcohol without even leaving the house.
 
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