Beer

Tuesday March 28, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday March 28, 2017

Trudeau government to legalize marijuana by Canada Day 2018: reports

The Liberal government plans to announce legislation next month that will legalize recreational marijuana use nationally by Canada Day 2018, CBC News reported Sunday night.

The report, aired first on CBC’s flagship TV show, The National, said the government plans to introduce the legislation the week of April 10.

Another report, however, indicated the bill would be introduced on April 20, or 4/20, a symbolic date for marijuana users.

According to the CBC report, Ottawa will secure the country’s marijuana supply and license producers. The national age limit to purchase the drug will be set at 18, but provinces will be able to set it higher.

Provinces will also control price, along with how marijuana is bought and sold.

Also, Canadians who wish to grow their own marijuana would be limited to four plants per household.

The new rules generally follow the recommendations of a federal task force chaired by Anne McLellan, a former justice minister. The task force delivered a 106-page report in December with 80 recommendations.

Bill Blair, the former Toronto police chief who, as a Liberal MP, was Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s point person on the issue, briefed the Liberal caucus on the roll-out plan and planned legislation during meetings this weekend, CBC said. (Source: Toronto Star)

 

 

Thursday September 24, 2015

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator - Thursday September 24, 2015 Six-packs coming to Ontario supermarkets this fall Consumers, craft brewers, grocers and owners of small bars and restaurants will finally quench their thirst for change under a new deal between Queen's Park and the Beer Store, the Star has learned. The 10-year accord clears the way for six-packs to be sold at 450 of Ontario's 1,500 supermarkets starting later this fall at the same cost as in LCBO outlets and Beer Stores. Beer prices in Ontario will continue Ñ on average Ñ to be among the lowest in Canada. "Nobody thought you could get this agreement with the beer guys," said a senior government official, referring to the foreign parent companies of Labatt, Molson, and Sleeman, which own the Beer Store and have enjoyed a virtual monopoly since Prohibition ended in 1927. "For the small brewers, we are increasing their shelf space," the insider said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the arrangement will not be made public until Wednesday. Indeed, 20 per cent of beer shelving in supermarkets, the LCBO, and Beer Stores will be reserved for independent brewers from anywhere in the world that make fewer than 4.6 million six-packs a year. That boutique category includes Ontario's 100 craft brewers Ñ such as Toronto's Steam Whistle Ñ as well as small Canadian firms like Brick. It does not encompass corporate craft brewer Creemore Springs, which is owned by Molson, or Labatt's Goose Island. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) http://www.thespec.com/news-story/5926184-six-packs-coming-to-ontario-supermarkets-this-fall/ Ontario, Kathleen Wynne, beer, Beer Store, alcohol, monopoly, supermarkets, hoser, health, healthy eating, nanny state, social engineering By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday September 24, 2015

Six-packs coming to Ontario supermarkets this fall

Consumers, craft brewers, grocers and owners of small bars and restaurants will finally quench their thirst for change under a new deal between Queen’s Park and the Beer Store, the Star has learned. Saturday March 14, 2015

The 10-year accord clears the way for six-packs to be sold at 450 of Ontario’s 1,500 supermarkets starting later this fall at the same cost as in LCBO outlets and Beer Stores.

Beer prices in Ontario will continue — on average — to be among the lowest in Canada. Thursday February 12, 2015

“Nobody thought you could get this agreement with the beer guys,” said a senior government official, referring to the foreign parent companies of Labatt, Molson, and Sleeman, which own the Beer Store and have enjoyed a virtual monopoly since Prohibition ended in 1927.

“For the small brewers, we are increasing their shelf space,” the insider said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the arrangement will not be made public until Wednesday.

Indeed, 20 per cent of beer shelving in supermarkets, the LCBO, and Beer Stores will be reserved for independent brewers from anywhere in the world that make fewer than 4.6 million six-packs a year.

Saturday November 15, 2014That boutique category includes Ontario’s 100 craft brewers — such as Toronto’s Steam Whistle — as well as small Canadian firms like Brick. It does not encompass corporate craft brewer Creemore Springs, which is owned by Molson, or Labatt’s Goose Island. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Saturday March 14, 2015

Saturday March 14, 2015Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday March 14, 2015

Kathleen Wynne not afraid to liberalize beer, wine sales, minister says

Premier Kathleen Wynne has the “steel” to bring beer and wine to Ontario supermarkets, says Economic Development Minister Brad Duguid.

In the wake of revelations by the Star’s Martin Regg Cohn that the spring budget will boast the greatest liberalization of booze sales laws in Ontario history, Duguid said no one should doubt Wynne’s fortitude.

Kathleen Wynne Beer Buster“If you’re questioning the determination of this premier to make some of these tough decisions that have not been made in generations in some cases, I would suggest that this premier has the steel to make those decisions,” he told reporters Friday.

“She’s determined to ensure we get full value out of those assets not for the sake of doing so but to ensure that we have the ability to invest that value in building a stronger province through investing in public transit and investing in infrastructure.”

Duguid said the government is awaiting the final recommendations of former TD Bank chair Ed Clark’s advisory council on government assets to determine the future of the Hydro One transmission utility and how to improve beer and wine distribution.

“The demands of customers are growing in retail, the expectations are growing,” the minister said.

“This does provide an opportunity for the government to provide Ontarians with a better retail experience,” he said.

“We’re very impressed to the work that Ed Clark has been doing to date with regard to both Hydro One and regarding the alcohol distribution system.” (Source: Toronto Star)

Monday, December 22, 2014

Monday, December 22, 2014Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Monday, December 22, 2014

Kathleen Wynne warns ‘change’ looms for The Beer Store

Premier Kathleen Wynne says Ontarians can “expect some change” in the new year on the way booze is sold in the province, including a rethink of the government’s deal with the foreign-owned Beer Store.

While the premier remained coy about how far she is prepared to go, she said the Liberals are “absolutely” serious about reforms.

“I’m impatient to get at that,” Wynne told the Star on Wednesday during a year-end interview in her Queen’s Park office.

“There’s a distribution system that works very well, but the fact it works very well has a value to it, right?” she said of the privately owned Beer Store.

“So how do we realize that value for the people of the province?”

A blue-ribbon panel on monetizing provincial assets led by former TD Bank chair Ed Clark has recommended keeping the LCBO in public hands while expanding its operations and charging The Beer Store a “franchise fee.”

Clark has warned the brewers, who claim they cannot afford another tariff, they will not be allowed to pass along the levy to consumers in the form of higher beer prices.

If they balk, the government is threatening to take away the monopoly enjoyed by AB InBev, MolsonCoors, and Sapporo, the offshore parent companies of Labatt, Molson and Sleeman. (Source: Toronto Star)

Kathleen Wynne, Ontario, Beer, Beer Store, liquor, cartel, monopoly, alcohol

Saturday November 15, 2014

Saturday November 15, 2014Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday November 15, 2014

Beer Store should pay more to province, says privatization czar

Premier Kathleen Wynne’s government is threatening to take away the privately owned Beer Store monopoly if brewers balk at paying a “franchise fee” to the province.

That’s according to Wynne’s privatization czar, former TD Bank chair Ed Clark, who tabled a report on public assets Thursday that recommends modernizing booze sales.

While Clark cautions against selling off the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, he said the province could “free up $2 billion to $3 billion” to fund transit by liquidating parts of Hydro One.

More controversially, he said The Beer Store, owned by AB InBev, MolsonCoors, and Sapporo, will have to cough up more money to Queen’s Park without raising prices for consumers — or else.

“Their position is that they can’t afford to absorb a tax,” Clark told reporters in a conference call after releasing his 77-page study, “Retain & Gain: Making Ontario’s Assets Work Better for Taxpayers and Consumers.”

“If we do decide to charge a franchise fee of some sort (and they say) they don’t have any room, they’re just right up against the wall here and they don’t have a dollar to give . . . we’re saying, ‘Well, then that means you’re really saying is that this franchise that you have is worthless. Would you then give it up?’ ” said Clark.

“And then they say they don’t want to, but they don’t want to pay for it. We don’t think that’s a reasonable position. If you really think this thing is valueless, then give it up and we’ll auction it off and see if people would pay something for it.”

Clark’s salvo, which went further than anything in his premier’s advisory council on government assets’ report, caught the breweries off guard.

“Beyond what’s in the report, we haven’t seen anything from the council on that issue at all. We haven’t received anything that speaks to (those) comments,” said Jeff Newton, president of Canada’s National Brewers, which runs the 448 Beer Stores across Ontario.

The panel report said the LCBO, the government’s 639-outlet liquor monopoly, should be allowed to sell 12-packs of beer instead of just six-packs. That would help craft brewers, though cases of 24 would still be exclusively sold at The Beer Store.

“We believe that the relationship between the provincial government and The Beer Store should be revised to ensure that Ontario taxpayers receive their fair share of the profits from The Beer Store,” the report said.

“Consumers should not see an increase in prices as a result of this change.”

But Newton argued The Beer Store and the breweries, which employ 9,600 people in the province, cannot absorb any levy because “at the end of the day those costs have to go somewhere.” (Source: Hamilton Spectator)