Eat & Drink
Let the Booze Flow Through TO
Back track to late May in 2005. I'd just packed up and moved to Toronto from Montreal on the promise that the French language was non-existent in this town. After a 6 hour drive and lots of unpacking, I decide there's only two things in the world that could feasibly end the day in any sane way; pizza and beer. Shortly after discovering that the concept of 2 for 1 pizza hadn't made the trip down the 401, I walk out with a large meat lovers and decide to pick up the pork soda on my way home.
I went to four different depanneurs with no luck. Everyone just looked at me funny when I asked them where the beer was.
Had I gone insane? Did I move to a dry county?
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Of course, Toronto does in fact sell beer. Hell, go down to The Beer Store and you'll find Toronto sells approximately 3000 different kinds of it. But I'm not a picky guy, I just wanted some Ex. In Montreal, you can damn near walk into a Toys 'R Us and pick up a 6er, but not in this town.
Thank gawd, this might be changing soon. Citynews is reporting that Queen's Park is considering making alcohol legally available at your nearby Daisy Mart.
There is the potential downside that minors might easily be able to purchase alcohol with fake IDs, something that is difficult, to say the least, when going through and LCBO.
Funny, you can still use that fake ID to buy a pack of Peter Jacksons pretty easily.
Premier Dalton McGuinty says "[The system] ain't broke." I'm of the mind that the readily accessible alcohol in Montreal made high school way more interesting than it must be for students in Ontario.
Still, I'm not everyone. Where do you guys stand on this? Should convenience reign supreme? Or should convenience store owners not be trusted to sell to minors after the lottery fiascos? What about the wineries, both local and importers? The breweries? What's best for them?
Lovely portrait of me taken by, umm, who the hell was in my house on Sunday...
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Let's face it - minors will be minors, and will drink booze regardless of where it's sold.
I lived in Japan for 2 years, and you can drink anywhere you want, at
pretty much any time of day or night there (on the street, in the subway,
in the park - all ok). Passengers in cars can even drink! And was it all out
anarchy? Nope.
I think the main hurdle that will prevent this from happening is the provincial body that governs and profits (very heavily, might I add) from alcohol sales - the mighty LCBO (the single largest purchaser of wine, beer, and spirits in the world).
The LCBO gets a cut of all liquor sold in Ontario, whether it be in a
restaurant, bar, winerack, or convenience store.
If they allow sales in non-government-controlled stores of only locally-produced wine and beer, one thing is certain... importers will furious.
The Ontario wine industry is already so well-protected by insanely high levies on imported products. In my mind, this would be just another reason not to drink Ontario wine (which is inferior in quality, IMO).
Personally, the idea doesn't really bother me but this gets brought up all the time and it never comes about.
So why not regulate the LCBO more carefully? Since we own the fucker, why not legislate that it has to expand its mandate? We have a tool here that has incredible buying power. So make it buy more interesting wines! We could force it to license boutiques or allow wine agents to run their OWN distribution. Basically, retain the level of professionalism in the system. This is what appeals to me about Ontario's way.
LCBO hasn't been the worlds largest purchaser of wine and spirits for a few years, that distinction now belongs to Wal-mart.
Domestic wine sold direct by a winery either to a consumer or a restaurant does not pay LCBO's levy (they still have to charge excise taxes) it's in fact pretty much the only way they make any profit at all.
I doubt that anyone in the domestic wine business except maybe Vincor wants corner store sales, the cost of distribution would cut further into their profits.
It's not clear you understand the difference between the LCBO and Brewers Retail. Right now in exchange for their monopoly BR is required to provide access to all producers. That disappears with a Quebec model, if Ontario goes that route you can kiss Steam Whistle and Mill Street goodbye.
Did I say that domestic wine was levied the same as imports? I didn't think so.
Can you buy beer anywhere other than BR or the LCBO? It's a monopoly.
<i>The LCBO gets a cut of all liquor sold in Ontario, whether it be in a
restaurant, bar, <b>winerack</b>, or convenience store.</i>
Which is not true, there is no LCBO cut at the wineracks and for the tiny trickle that goes from domestic wineries direct to restaurants the LCBO does not get anything there either.
(I'm not so sure about those sneers but, well, that's for some other blog. This is about Toronto.)
Liquor laws here are so backward. I can't decide if New York's no-last-call, booze in corner stores sensibility is negated by its drinking age.
In point of fact the LCBO has flaws, in particular at the low end they make stuff comparatively expensive and at the high end they limit selection and force the PITA consignment system, they burden producers with ridiculous paperwork.
Keep in mind that this proposal was just to sell VQA wine and "Microbrewery" beer so forget picking up that 6 pack of Ex or that 3 dollar bottle of Chilean plonk.
Take care guys...