Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday March 4, 2015
Premier Kathleen Wynne is promising a “more rational” system of selling wine and beer in Ontario.
One day after Wynne told Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb the province would soon have “a lot more open” wine market, the premier underscored that changes ahead will benefit consumers and the treasury.
“I assured him that that’s part of the work Ed Clark is doing,” she said Tuesday, referring to the former TD Bank chair who’s leading a panel reviewing the anachronistic way wine and beer are sold in Ontario.
“I’m not going to pre-empt his report. But there is an opportunity here,” the premier said, noting Clark’s conclusions would be part of Finance Minister Charles Sousa’s spring budget.
“We want these assets to work as well as possible for the people of Ontario. All of that is about finding ways to optimize these assets. Yes, to make the system more rational . . . but also to realize a funding stream, realize money that’s going to be invested in . . . infrastructure,” said Wynne.
“There will be some changes coming as a result of that work. I’m making an assumption that there are aspects of the liquor system in Ontario, the alcohol industry in Ontario, that are not as rational as they could be,” she said. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)