Ontario's public liquor retail system is the best anywhere

Ontario's public liquor retail system is the best anywhere

The LCBO is responsible, efficient and generates $3 billion a year

Toronto - Ontario's publicly-owned liquor retailing system is an unrivalled success story, generating billions in public revenues while operating in a socially responsible manner that is the envy of jurisdictions across the continent and beyond.

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario is taken so much for granted in that it has been targeted for privatization by corporate-oriented politicians like former Tory premiers Mike Harris and Ernie Eves.

And even though the Tories were thrown out of office last fall by taxpayers who finally had enough of their bowing and scraping to private sector friends, the danger remains.

Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty has suggested on more than one occasion he might also consider privatizing the LCBO because of a severe budgetary crisis left behind by the Tories.

All of which makes it a good time to look at the value citizens in Ontario are getting from a modern public retailing system that has proved again and again over many years - and how much taxpayers would be losing if the LCBO were sold. Here are some facts from the Ontario Liquor Boards Employees' Union (OLBEU/NUPGE).

• The LCBO transferred more than $3 billion to the provincial government last year.
• More than $1 billion of this amount was clear profit .. the rest mainly taxes.
• LCBO staff challenged 1.1 million customers in 2002-03, turning away 70,000 individuals - 68% for age-related reasons.
• All LCBO products are regularly tested in their laboratory to ensure product safety and quality.
• The LCBO laboratory conducted 343,000 tests on more than 14,500 product samples in 2002-03.
• LCBO employees are required to take three levels of product knowledge training courses.
• Since 1990, the LCBO has received 80 awards for customer service, staff training and development, store design, advertising, innovative retailer of the year, corporate communications and social responsibility.
• The LCBO has contributed $21 million to Ontario's Blue Box program to help cover the cost of recycling beverage alcohol containers.