The only reason selling alcohol in grocery stores is on the public agenda is because the LCBO union strike put it there. Pictured: Premier Doug Ford. Photo Credit: Doug Ford/X.
Decades ago, an aspiring politician once coined the term “it’s a time for choosing.”
That would-be politician was talking about an election. But Ontario now faces a time for choosing of its own.
Should we allow a union to hold the province hostage and cut off Ontarians’ access to the alcohol they want to buy this summer? Or should we have more choice and convenience by bringing all alcoholic beverages into grocery stores so long as the present strike drags on?
It’s time for the Ford government to choose.
Premier Doug Ford, who talks endlessly about the importance of convenience and treating Ontarians as adults, should choose to make alcohol accessible in grocery stores province-wide while the LCBO union continues its selfish strike.
Here’s the deal: the LCBO union bosses made a decision. On July 5, LCBO employees walked off the job. The union made a decision to reject a generous offer from the LCBO to increase wages and make more employees full time.
The biggest sticking point in the negotiations is Ford’s plan to allow ready-to-drink beverages to be sold in grocery stores and corner stores throughout the province.
The LCBO union chose to strike. It chose to shut down LCBO locations across the province. And it chose to force Ontarians into a “dry summer” in the hopes of having exasperated Ontarians push the government to capitulate to the union’s demands and stand in the way of change.
Now it’s time for the Ford government to choose to respond.
The response should be rolling out a plan to allow grocery stores to sell the same products the LCBO does so long as this strike drags on.
The union keeps arguing that the LCBO’s monopoly must be protected because the LCBO offers the most convenience, best selection and most helpful staff.
If that’s true, the union should have nothing to fear from allowing grocery stores to sell alcohol to circumvent the union’s “dry summer” campaign.
While the union chooses not to work, Ontarians will get a choice. They can see whether they like being able to buy alcohol in grocery stores. And, if the union is right and a government-run monopoly truly offers superior products and service, when they decide to go back to work all of their previous business will resume.
Why has the LCBO union balked at this very suggestion?
Because they know that if Ontarians truly get the option to have more convenience, the days of LCBO market dominance will be over.
Saskatchewan once had government-run alcohol stores with a monopoly, as is currently the case in Ontario. Spirits were only allowed to be sold by the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA).
But in 2016, the Saskatchewan government allowed 11 private liquor stores to open and sold 39 government-run stores to private enterprises.
Thirty-six liquor stores, run by the SLGA, remained open when that transition process occurred in 2016.
Saskatchewans then had a choice. Did they want to buy spirits at one of 36 government-run stores or one of 50 privately-run stores?
Saskatchewans voted with their six-packs. Private stores were so much more popular that all of the province’s publicly-owned liquor stores went out of business by 2022.
That’s the future the LCBO faces if the monopoly ends. That’s why the union is so afraid of change.
But here’s the reality: the only reason selling alcohol in grocery stores is on the public agenda is because the LCBO union strike put it there.
By holding the province hostage over ready-to-drink beverages, the LCBO union is inadvertently triggering a larger conversation that the province needs to have.
At the very least, the Ford government needs to stand up for Ontarians by allowing all alcohol to be sold in grocery stores for the duration of the strike.
Ford must declare “checkmate” against the union’s “dry summer” campaign by doing the very thing the union is trying to prevent: allowing for more choice and convenience for Ontarians by making alcohol more accessible province-wide.
Jay Goldberg is the Ontario Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. He previously served as a policy fellow at the Munk School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. Jay holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Toronto.
