TOareaFan
Superstar
we would, clearly, only allow crack, rape and murder inside government controlled space within approved grocery stores.
|
|
|
- Thread starter Northern Light
- Start date
we would, clearly, only allow crack, rape and murder inside government controlled space within approved grocery stores.
Johnny Au
Senior Member
...and there is the belief among some circles (especially the Don Cherry types) that "practising Muslims can never be true Canadians."
How racist.
How racist.
TOareaFan
Superstar
where did that come from?
spider
Senior Member
Let's see what the market thinks about booze retailing.
Allow the LCBO and the Beer Store to carry on as they do now but provide some competition by allowing variety or grocery stores to sell beer and wine if they wish and new Liquor only stores to be created.
I don't need the massive new stores that the LCBO is currently building all over town to pick up my booze of choice and I resent the fact that I need to pay for them as I surely am doing. I can happily buy from a little store across the street or out of the back of a mini van if the price is lower.
Many small variety stores may not opt into the sale of beer for many reasons and that's fine. Many people may prefer to shop at a shiny new LCBO store and that's OK too but let's let the public vote their preferences rather than having a government decide for them.
Allow the LCBO and the Beer Store to carry on as they do now but provide some competition by allowing variety or grocery stores to sell beer and wine if they wish and new Liquor only stores to be created.
I don't need the massive new stores that the LCBO is currently building all over town to pick up my booze of choice and I resent the fact that I need to pay for them as I surely am doing. I can happily buy from a little store across the street or out of the back of a mini van if the price is lower.
Many small variety stores may not opt into the sale of beer for many reasons and that's fine. Many people may prefer to shop at a shiny new LCBO store and that's OK too but let's let the public vote their preferences rather than having a government decide for them.
Hipster Duck
Senior Member
I've always been for 100% instant privatization of all liquor and beer sales.
The only reason to keep the LCBO was because it was a cash cow. But that, in itself, is a bad reason to keep something publicly run. The primary reason for having publicly managed companies should be to provide services that private enterprise won't reliably provide (eg. public transit, EMS, healthcare, public education, etc.). The LCBO may be a lucrative form of taxation, but it's a poor form of taxation because it's very regressive and the cost to society of consuming liquor is not tied to the dollar value of liquor purchases.
The only reason to keep the LCBO was because it was a cash cow. But that, in itself, is a bad reason to keep something publicly run. The primary reason for having publicly managed companies should be to provide services that private enterprise won't reliably provide (eg. public transit, EMS, healthcare, public education, etc.). The LCBO may be a lucrative form of taxation, but it's a poor form of taxation because it's very regressive and the cost to society of consuming liquor is not tied to the dollar value of liquor purchases.
uptown
Active Member
In some of the more remote and sparsely populated parts of Northern Ontario there is no Beer Store or LCBO. You get your wine, beer, or spirits at the only store there is for many miles in any direction. The same store where you gas up your car, buy a DVD or a paperback, mail your letters, buy your breakfast cereal and laundry detergent - something the LCBO terms agency stores. It is absurd that politicians can say with a straight face that corner stores or grocery stores shouldn't be selling alcohol considering it's already the case in some parts of Ontario.
Last edited:
ShonTron
Moderator
There are several just outside the GTA, such as in Rockwood and Hillsburgh.
There is one in the GTA; at Mount Albert.
All of the above are in small grocery stores. The closest "general store" agencies are in Mansfield and Hawkestone, neither are in Northern Ontario.
uptown
Active Member
I had no idea there were some so close to the city or basically anywhere south of Lake Simcoe. Pokes even more holes in the theory that only the LCBO and the Beer Store can be trusted to sell alcohol responsibly.
Student99
Active Member
There are more in the GTA, such as in Thornton and Beeton
spider
Senior Member
There is or was recently an agency store in Claremont which is even closer to Toronto. I tried to purchase a bottle of Rye there last year but the proprietor refused to allow me to pay with a credit card.
Bayer
Senior Member
As far as monopolies go, the LCBO (and the SAQ, for that matter), are actually quite good compared to U.S. state monopolies such as the one in Pennsylvania, where the wine and liquor stores are outdated and dreary, with a poor selection and higher prices than one would expect. But beer is dirt cheap.
Long Island Mike
Senior Member
Comparing Ontario LCBO to Pennsylvania LCB...
Bayer: Living for a time in the Philadelphia area I remember that the PA LCB monopoly could be expensive
and I also remember that privately-run liquor stores in nearby New Jersey competed well with them...
Buying beer could be interesting remembering how PA only allowed licensed bars and clubs to sell six-packs
and other then beer and soda (pop) distributors there were few places that had beer licenses...
See: www.lcb.state.pa.us and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Liquor_Control_Board
LI MIKE
Bayer: Living for a time in the Philadelphia area I remember that the PA LCB monopoly could be expensive
and I also remember that privately-run liquor stores in nearby New Jersey competed well with them...
Buying beer could be interesting remembering how PA only allowed licensed bars and clubs to sell six-packs
and other then beer and soda (pop) distributors there were few places that had beer licenses...
See: www.lcb.state.pa.us and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Liquor_Control_Board
LI MIKE
Bayer
Senior Member
Yes, the system in PA is interesting. My experience is at the other end of the state, in the Pittsburgh area, where I traveled at least once a month for years until 2012. Beer stores were rather low-end establishments, bare-bones but with surprisingly large selections sometimes - I remember getting a 2-4 of Leffe Brune, and also some Maudite, which was very unexpected! And you could only buy 24 beers minimum in those stores - impossible to get a six-pack anywhere else but bars, clubs, and some restaurants. That and the unrestricted tobacco sales, as well as the fluorescent-lit wine and liquor stores, made me feel very positive about the LCBO.
gabe
Senior Member
That's true. They do have some pretty sketchy looking liquor and beer stores in PA. Pennsylvania is one of the few states that doesn't allow the sale of beer in corner stores or grocery stores. But you can go into to any bar and buy 6 packs of beer to go. Which comes in handy in those little counties are very religious, they don't have any beer stores in the county, just bars.
Yes the beer in PA is crazy cheap. I picked up a 24 pack of Harp for $28. 24 pack of Harp at The Beer Store here is $54!!!! You can always pick up 24 packs of Coors or Moslon on sale for under $20. Our Beer Store sales are a slap in the face. They got $34 24 pack of beer on sale that's 80 cents off
Utah is even worse than Ontario when it comes to the sale of Beer and liquor. The state owns all the liquor stores and makes all the money off alcohol. All beer over 3.2% ABV is considered liquor and is thus subject to strict distribution laws and is not even allowed to be on tap in bars, which are only allowed to serve alcohol until 1 am. Up until a few years ago public drinking in Utah had to be done in privately owned clubs which required memberships! When ordering an alcoholic beverage in a restaurant or bar you must have food on the table before server brings you your drink. Utah controlled by Mormon Church ( cult) So they have some rather strange laws down there.
Dan416
Senior Member
Interesting that Ontario and Pennsylvania have the phrase "liquor control board" in the LCBO and PLCB respectively.