Rivers:The LCBO mess is a solution looking for a problem.

By  Ray Rivers

July 22, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

Ontario has just lived through another major weather event – the climatic warming of the Caribbean produced Beryl – the earliest category 5 hurricane in Atlantic history.  And the remnants visited southern Ontario this week torrentially dumping near record breaking rainfall, reminiscent of the flood of a decade earlier.  It was a memo to our governments that we need to do more to mitigate global warming and climate change.

But these days Mr. Ford has bigger fish he wants to fry.  So he’s busy defending the sweetheart deal he cooked up with that Spa outfit, giving away public space at Ontario place.   And then there is the smoke and mirrors he is generating in order to justify shuttering Ontario’s Science Centre and move it.

Premier is said to be a teetotaller – but he wants to ensure that you can pick up a 2-4 at a gas station.

But what is really occupying Mr. Ford’s attention these days is killing the LCBO.  He’s doing that by a thousand cuts.  He is accelerating the shift of alcohol sales to the private outlets such that the mighty LCBO, once the largest purchaser of alcoholic products in the world, until it will eventually be seen as unprofitable.  It is kind of bizarre that someone who claims to be a tea totaler would be so interested in making booze even more readily available for more residents of this province.

And that is why the employees went on strike.  It was about keeping their jobs but also about preserving the organization they work for.   And they were successful in stopping the bleeding, at least for the three year term of their contract.  And by that time Doug Ford will be history, they hope.

Though perhaps Mr. Ford is right.  Maybe it’s time to privatize all alcohol sales, get rid of the LCBO.  After all we privatized cannabis sales from the get go and no animals were injured in the process.  But there will be some potential downsides.  First, greater access to alcohol carries the danger of greater underage drinking and drunk driving.  Second, the provincial treasury would likely have to forego the $2 billion or so it receives annually from the LCBO;

Third, increased crime.  A recent study south of the border has linked increased violent crime with the expansion of liquor stores.  Forth, the role the LCBO plays in the promotion and protection of local wines and liquors is at risk.  And fifth, the availability of the wide variety and diversity of products will be gone because smaller retailers will need to focus on a few of the most popular brands.

Handling the empty beer, wine and spirits containers could turn out to be more than small retailers want to take on.

This expansion is already meeting resistance by the very people it is intended to benefit.  Many potential mom and pop, convenience, store vendors are refusing to be licensed to sell plunk.  After all, the privilege of selling booze comes with a price tag,  There is the process of licensing; the underage policing and added security to prevent theft; the additional paperwork; the additional storage and showcasing space; and the requirement to accept and dispatch used liqueur receptacles.

It is hard to see this liquor expansion as anything but a solution looking for a problem.  The original promises of getting booze into corner stores dates back to a time well before the LCBO re-invented itself into the modern retailer it is today.  The best thing Ford could do about the LCBO is give it a less uninspiring name and leave well enough alone.

After all, he promised to be the premier for all the people, not premier for all the booze.

Ray Rivers, a Gazette Contributing Editor, writes regularly applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking.  Rivers was once a candidate for provincial office in Burlington.  He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject.   Ray has a post graduate degree in economics that he earned at the University of Ottawa.  Tweet @rayzrivers

Background links:

Hurricane Beryl –  Climate Change Insurance –    Refusing to Handle Booze –   Booze and Crime –