{"id":20189,"date":"2013-05-09T09:00:24","date_gmt":"2013-05-09T14:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/?p=20189"},"modified":"2013-05-09T09:40:17","modified_gmt":"2013-05-09T14:40:17","slug":"let-em-strike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/2013\/05\/09\/let-em-strike\/","title":{"rendered":"Let ’em strike!"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’re in the final week before the LCBO is threatening a strike. Michael Pinkus<\/a> suggests we should let ’em walk:<\/p>\n

For the third time in a decade the LCBO is holding Ontario hostage — and just like they did in 2005 and 2009 when the threat of a strike was on the table, they\u2019ll be an 11th hour (more like on the 11th hour and 59 minute mark) resolution where the LCBO employees get everything they want because the province does not want to lose the revenue the LCBO brings into the province. Screw the teachers, they take money out of the system, but the LCBO brings it in, so they should get whatever they ask for, right? It\u2019s the approach taken by every government who has \u201cstared down\u201d the LCBO, and lost. Not that I\u2019m necessarily for the teachers, but if it\u2019s a choice between educating our youth or feeding our appetite for liquor I know which side I fall on \u2026 and so would any right minded Ontarian — it\u2019s the booze that wins out every time.<\/p>\n

And just like in 2005 and 2009 the LCBO will make a ton of money in the days before the \u201cstrike\u201d. It\u2019ll be a feeding frenzy of mammoth proportions in the aisles, right up to the last hour. Shelves will be decimated as people stock up for what surely will be touted as long, drawn out labour strife \u2026 that\u2019ll never come. And why do I say that? Because any right thinking Ontarian knows that if the LCBO goes on strike it means more than loss of revenue to the province, or an inability to get out of country booze \u2026 it means the end of the LCBO (and everyone involved knows that).<\/p>\n

Take a peak around us privatization is today\u2019s buzz-word and it\u2019s all around us. In our own country, to the south, in Europe — at corner stores, in supermarkets and in specialty stores \u2026 heck even Pennsylvania is getting into the act of loosening their liquor laws (and nobody thought that day would come) — but not here in NO-FUN-Tario, a have not province \u2026 we sit under the rules and thumb of the Liquor Control Board. If they go on strike questions will be raised as to why we have a provincially run system, why we support unionized workers, or why we can\u2019t be more liberal with our booze (plus you just know some idiot will want to declare it an essential service). So it does not behoove the LCBO to walk off the job and the government won\u2019t allow it because they\u2019ll be tough questions to answer. So don\u2019t go betting the farm on a labour dispute and seeing picket sign toting employees at the local Board store — this one will end like all the others, with the LCBO threatening to walk out, a mass throng of buyers the day before, and the sun rising to a new dawn the next day with a new deal for LCBO employees \u2026 and all will be right in Ontario for another 4 years \u2026 when we\u2019ll do it all again.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Update<\/b>: A report in the Toronto Star<\/em><\/a> claims that Ontario could earn a $1 billion windfall by allowing private liquor stores into the province:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the Ontario liquor industry mirrored ours in B.C., instead of $1.6 billion going to government, that number could be around $2.7 billion,\u201d he states in his 15-page speech, which highlights the pluses for locally produced wines, beers and spirits.<\/p>\n

With 635 stores and 219 convenience store locations in rural and northern Ontario, the LCBO last year reported net sales of $4.71 billion \u2014 up $218 million \u2014 and handed over to the Ontario treasury an all-time high of $1.63 billion, not including taxes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Ontario allowed private liquor stores, consumers would have access to hundreds of new VQA wines, craft beers and spirits.\u201d<\/p>\n

His comments come at a time when the LCBO plans to spend $100 million on expansion, including express outlets in 10 large grocery stores and expanded VQA sales, and while Tory Leader Tim Hudak calls for the booze monopoly to be privatized and for beer and wine to be sold in corner stores.<\/p>\n

\u201cA bit of competition makes the world go round . . . I think now that we are (in) 2013 it\u2019s time for some change,\u201d Hudak told reporters at Queen\u2019s Park.<\/p>\n

B.C. has had a mix of private and public liquor stores \u201cto create better choices for producers to sell and for consumers to buy,\u201d Baillie said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ontario currently does<\/em> allow a tiny number of private wine stores to operate, but under incredibly restrictive conditions. For one thing, they’re only allowed to be located in areas the LCBO has determined are “underserved”, they may only sell wine from a single winery or winery group, and the number of stores is limited to the licenses that were granted to certain wineries before 1993.<\/p>\n

Oh, and the kicker to all those restriction? If you manage to put in a store in an “underserved” area and make a profit? The LCBO can then turn around and re-designate your area to invalidate your license or place one of their own stores in the area and take away the business you’ve built up. Catch-22.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We’re in the final week before the LCBO is threatening a strike. Michael Pinkus suggests we should let ’em walk: For the third time in a decade the LCBO is holding Ontario hostage — and just like they did in 2005 and 2009 when the threat of a strike was on the table, they\u2019ll be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[831,6,84],"tags":[395,87,394,392],"class_list":["post-20189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business","category-cancon","category-government","tag-lcbo","tag-ontario","tag-privatization","tag-unions"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2hpV6-5fD","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20189"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20191,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20189\/revisions\/20191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}