Cheers to Manitoba liquor laws

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/06/2019 (2697 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As much as some Manitobans might like the opportunity to purchase alcoholic libations at their corner store at 8 a.m., it would be a mistake for this province to liberalize retail liquor sales as Ontario is planning to do.

The privatization push in Ontario comes from the Progressive Conservative government led by Premier Doug Ford, whose successful campaign to become premier included a “buck a beer” pledge. His government recently confirmed it’s proceeding with its promise to expand beer and wine sales into corner stores, big-box stores and other grocery outlets.

Manitobans of a right-of-centre inclination — and those who get thirsty for liquor after government outlets are closed for the evening — might hope this province follows Ontario and other provinces that have moved away from government monopolies on retail liquor sales. Quebec has long let convenience stores and grocery stores sell wine and beer. Alberta is the most extreme of Canadian provinces, having gone to full privatization of retail alcohol sales 25 years ago.

There will always be people ideologically inclined toward more privatization, and others who want less. In this instance, there are solid reasons why the Manitoba mix of government-run Liquor Marts and private wine and beer stores is the best balance of social responsibility and service to customers. In other words: keep the status quo.

During his campaign to be premier in 2015, Brian Pallister stated clearly he would not privatize liquor sales if he won.

But the hopes of the privatize-it posse were raised recently when Manitoba Crown Services Minister Colleen Mayer discussed her April 24 “mandate letter” to Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries. The letter tells MLL to seek ways of reducing the costs of buying booze, such as reducing the markup on the price of liquor, and to encourage the expansion of local brew and distillery pubs. But it also includes this direction: “Engage with the private sector to identify opportunities for increased participation in the liquor retail and distribution sectors.”

Proprietors of stores in Manitoba likely feel aggrieved that, at least for the moment, they don’t enjoy the considerable market advantage enjoyed by their counterparts in Alberta, Quebec and, soon, Ontario. Adding alcoholic beverages to store shelves attracts more business and also boosts spinoff benefits as customers who come in for a six-pack might be inclined to buy other items, such as potato chips and cigarettes.

Mind you, if Manitoba stores were allowed to sell alcohol products, those same proprietors would face the added overhead of hiring staff trained for confrontations that are inevitable when refusing service to underage customers and people who are already drunk and possibly aggressive. This is the province where, throughout last winter, unabashed thieves felt free to stroll out of government liquor stores with unpaid beverages until MLL invested in security measures that might be prohibitively expensive for small convenience stores.

Another category of Manitobans who might favour all-out privatization are the customers: it would be more convenient for them, because stores have more locations and longer hours than Liquor Marts, and they might also hope competition would lead to lower prices.

As far as cost, the retail price of most beverages in Manitoba seems on par with most other provinces, including those with more privatization. The prices of 24 cans of Budweiser, according to 2017 data from provincial liquor control websites: Manitoba $40.31, Saskatchewan $42.99, Ontario $45.95, Alberta $47.99, B.C. $34.29 and Quebec $29.99. (It should be noted it’s tricky to compare prices between provinces because some provinces’ posted prices don’t include taxes.)

When it comes to locations to buy, Manitoba already offers at least 55 Liquor Marts, 175 vendors and eight speciality wine stores. At least 16 craft breweries are now open.

Outside of Manitoba’s urban centres, the vendors licensed to sell liquor are often in convenience stores or pharmacies, and sometimes located in unexpected outlets such as lumberyards (Sanford and Falcon Lake), insurance agents (Waskada) and dry cleaners (Altona).

If anyone in Manitoba says they can’t find a place to buy a bottle, they’re not looking hard enough.

That said, Albertans boast a much larger range of products and locations. At more than 2,000 locations, Albertans can buy more than 20,000 types of liquor, wine, beer, coolers and ciders, just in case they have trouble making up their minds about what to drink.

Perhaps the most important reason to keep Manitoba’s current system of liquor distribution is that, of all the western Canadian provinces, the Manitoba model generates the largest net profits to government.

This big advantage was chronicled by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives in a 2016 report called “Balancing Convenience with Social Responsibility: Liquor Regulation in Manitoba.”

It concludes Manitoba’s system is more responsible than other western provinces because the amount of profit that the retail industry sends back to the government comes closest to paying for Manitoba’s social and medical costs of alcohol use.

That in itself is worth raising a glass and toasting the Manitoba model. It’s fine as it is.

— with files from Bill Redekop

Carl DeGurse is a member of the Free Press editorial board.

carl.degurse@freepress.mb.ca