LCBO

Thursday June 22, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday June 22, 2017

LCBO extends hours in lead up to Canada Day as possible strike looms

The LCBO is extending hours amid fears of a last call due to a possible work stoppage next week.

March 4, 2015

With 8,000 unionized workers set to hit the bricks on Monday, the provincial alcohol monopoly some Liquor Control Board of Ontario stores will be open from 9 a.m. until 11 p.m. starting Thursday.

“Extended store hours across Ontario will help accommodate customer shopping leading up to Canada Day and possible labour disruption,” the LCBO said in a statement Wednesday.

“We continue to bargain with the union’s bargaining committee, with the union in a legal strike position as of 12:01 a.m. Monday,” the Crown agency continued.

“To ensure access to the best product selection and to avoid disappointment, customers should shop in advance of Sunday . . . if possible,” it said.

June 23, 2009

“We remain focused on reaching a fair, sustainable and responsible collective agreement. However, in the event of a labour disruption, we have plans to provide some level of service.”

Details on those strike provisions are not yet known.

In the event that workers are not on strike over the Canada Day long weekend July 1, the LCBO is hoping to keep as many as 450 of its 650 stores open with the longer hours that Sunday.

June 26, 2009

However, all outlets will be closed on the Saturday. They will be open Monday even though that is a statutory holiday.

Employees, 84 per cent of whom are part-time, are seeking greater certainty from the LCBO over scheduling and guarantees about eventually gaining full-time jobs.

Premier Kathleen Wynne, who is reforming labour laws this fall to protect workers in precarious employment circumstances better, has warned that “it’s a good idea for government to set an example in terms of good labour practice.” (Toronto Star) 

 

Saturday, December 3, 2016

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator - Saturday, December 3, 2016 Air Miles collectors stuck with redeemed rewards Air Miles Canada says it won’t reimburse collectors who spent their points in anticipation of an expiration policy that will no longer take effect at the end of the year. The company that runs the Air Miles loyalty points program, LoyaltyOne, announced Thursday it was cancelling plans that would have seen collectors lose miles older than five years. While some celebrated the news, others — who had scrambled to redeem their miles ahead of the expiry — were angered by the about face. Air Miles Canada’s Twitter account told two customers the company would not be reimbursing collectors who spent their points to avoid having them expire. The account sent tweets saying the company would not accept returns, cancellations or exchanges due to the cancellation of the expiry policy, once booked. The Air Miles reward program launched in 1992 and has more than 11 million active collector accounts. (Source: Toronto Star) https://www.thestar.com/business/2016/12/02/air-miles-collectors-stuck-with-redeemed-rewards.html Ontario, Canada, Air Miles, loyalty, point cards, rewards, LCBO, consumer

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday, December 3, 2016

Air Miles collectors stuck with redeemed rewards

Air Miles Canada says it won’t reimburse collectors who spent their points in anticipation of an expiration policy that will no longer take effect at the end of the year.

The company that runs the Air Miles loyalty points program, LoyaltyOne, announced Thursday it was cancelling plans that would have seen collectors lose miles older than five years.

While some celebrated the news, others — who had scrambled to redeem their miles ahead of the expiry — were angered by the about face.

Air Miles Canada’s Twitter account told two customers the company would not be reimbursing collectors who spent their points to avoid having them expire.

The account sent tweets saying the company would not accept returns, cancellations or exchanges due to the cancellation of the expiry policy, once booked.

The Air Miles reward program launched in 1992 and has more than 11 million active collector accounts. (Source: Toronto Star)

 

Friday November 27, 2015

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator - Friday November 27, 2015 The LCBO wants to sell you pot Stocking weed alongside wine at the LCBO is the best way to protect public health, say addiction experts. But for marijuana advocates it's more of the same prohibition. In a statement released Monday, the union representing LCBO workers said the provincially owned stores are the ideal place to sell marijuana, should the federal government legalize it. "If they do legalize it, then it's a drug," Warren (Smokey) Thomas told the Star. "So we think that, like alcohol, it should be controlled." Thomas, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, said secure warehouses and staff trained to check ages are some of the reasons the LCBO should be the sole source of legal pot in the province, as it is with most alcohol. The scheme would also generate revenue for the government to combat the potential social costs. But marijuana advocates say those social costs and the spectre of public danger are overblown, and government-run sales would continue a prohibitionist regulatory approach. "Our view of course has always been that marijuana is one of the safest drugs. It's not any worse, slightly better, than coffee," said Blair Longley, the leader of the federal Marijuana Party. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals won this fall's election with an campaign platform promising to "legalize, regulate, and restrict access to marijuana." However, Longley maintains the drug should be proportionately restricted based on its danger. So ideally, he said, anyone should be free to grow and use the plant how she wishes with the informed consent as to any danger. Hugo St-Onge, leader of Quebec's Bloc Pot party agrees that government stores are not the way forward. "We need to stop comparing marijuana to alcohol," he said. "Marijuana should have its own model, its own system." He prefers a food-model regulatory system, with sales done in a similar fa

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday November 27, 2015

The LCBO wants to sell you pot

Stocking weed alongside wine at the LCBO is the best way to protect public health, say addiction experts. But for marijuana advocates it’s more of the same prohibition.

Wednesday March 4, 2015In a statement released Monday, the union representing LCBO workers said the provincially owned stores are the ideal place to sell marijuana, should the federal government legalize it.

“If they do legalize it, then it’s a drug,” Warren (Smokey) Thomas told the Star. “So we think that, like alcohol, it should be controlled.”

Thomas, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, said secure warehouses and staff trained to check ages are some of the reasons the LCBO should be the sole source of legal pot in the province, as it is with most alcohol.

The scheme would also generate revenue for the government to combat the potential social costs. But marijuana advocates say those social costs and the spectre of public danger are overblown, and government-run sales would continue a prohibitionist regulatory approach.

“Our view of course has always been that marijuana is one of the safest drugs. It’s not any worse, slightly better, than coffee,” said Blair Longley, the leader of the federal Marijuana Party.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals won this fall’s election with an campaign platform promising to “legalize, regulate, and restrict access to marijuana.” However, Longley maintains the drug should be proportionately restricted based on its danger. So ideally, he said, anyone should be free to grow and use the plant how she wishes with the informed consent as to any danger.

Hugo St-Onge, leader of Quebec’s Bloc Pot party agrees that government stores are not the way forward.

“We need to stop comparing marijuana to alcohol,” he said. “Marijuana should have its own model, its own system.”

He prefers a food-model regulatory system, with sales done in a similar fashion to Amsterdam’s cafés. (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)

Wednesday March 4, 2015

Wednesday March 4, 2015Editorial 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)