Ontario Liberals and Tories differ on corner store alcohol sales

Dalton McGuinty would keep LCBO system as it is; John Tory is open to privatization
 

Walkerton (26 Sept. 2007) - Ontario's two major parties have staked out opposing views on the issue of privatizing liquor sales.

Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty says he will not allow the province to sell off the hugely-profitable Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) to private operators or to permit the sale of alcohol in corner stores. One of his main reasons is the job that LCBO outlets now do in preventing sales to minors.

"I think we have a pretty good system in place right now to provide access to beer and wine and liquor," McGuinty said during a stop in his campaign to win re-election when Ontario voters go to the polls on Oct. 10.

"Thinking like a parent, my kids are older now, but when they were younger and might have wanted to get early access to booze, I felt comforted by the fact that the Beer Store and the LCBO was carding anybody who looked to be under the age of 25," McGuinty added. "I take a great deal of comfort in that, and I see no reason to change the system."

Meanwhile, Conservative Leader John Tory says he is open to the idea of corner store liquor sales and would begin by allowing "test markets" to market Ontario-made beer and wine outside the confines of LCBO outlets. He acknowledges that "care" must be taken to prevent sales to underage drinkers but he gave no details on how this might be done.

However, Tory's comments prompted questions from a former Conservative cabinet minister when Bill Davis was premier of Ontario in the 1980s.

Andy Brant, who went on to serve as CEP of the LCBO, said the North American Free Trade Agreement (adopted by federal Conservatives in the late 1980s) "limits the amount of expansion of Ontario wines and any Canadian product that would be in opposition to imports coming in, or that would be in competition with imports."

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