No government ever wants to be called hypocritical. For that reason, taxpayers may be able to squeeze some good policy reform out of the provincial government in the area of alcohol sales.
Consider the fact that in many rural areas, Manitobans can enjoy the convenience of picking up a bottle of wine along with a loaf of bread at the same place. That's right, people in small towns like Treherne and Oakbank can enjoy a convenience that residents in larger urban centres can not experience.
Insert the hypocrisy angle here. In Winnipeg, Brandon, Portage and other large urban centres, provincial government rules for alcohol sales dictate that vodka, rye and other favourites can only be sold in stand alone government run liquor stores.
That means that Manitobans often have to drive to a government run liquor store to pick up their drink of choice and then get back in their vehicles to drive to their grocery store to pick up the other items on their shopping list.
For a government that is focused on reducing automobile emissions, how can it defend the continuation of such a policy?
Ok...so some may call that a stretch, but considers a grant recently handed out by the provincial government for a similar objective. The $17,000 grant was given to help raise awareness of the benefits of purchasing locally grown food because shorter transportation distances reduce carbon footprints.
But even carbon footprint and hypocrisy aside, let's remember the year is 2008. Man has walked on the moon, the Berlin Wall has come down and Castro is no longer in power. Surely Manitobans are ready to pick up a six pack at their local grocery store. After all, Quebecers, Albertans and billions of other people - from the United States to communist China already have the same convenience.
They also benefit from the increase in selection that comes from opening up an industry to competition. By placing alcohol sales in the hands of individual stores, selection will likely become more responsive to consumer demand than it is right now under the government bureaucracy that currently manages purchasing. In fact, just ask any wine connoisseur in Alberta about the increase in specialty wine stores and selection in their province.
Some will question how the province could possibly afford to lose control of the sale of alcohol. After all, the MLCC transfers millions of dollars to the provincial treasury each year. Alberta obviously faced the same when it opened up alcohol sales in 1993. Their solution was to continue to control the wholesale business and only privatize the retail business.
Every liquor store in Alberta must purchase its products through the Alberta government. This approach allowed their government to preserve that revenue stream, while improving choice and convenience.
Unfortunately for those seeking reform in this area, documents obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation revealed that the Manitoba Liquor Control Commission recently spent $2.6 million on renovations to its fleet of stores in one form or another. Not only is this not the proper role of government - it is an unecessary expenditure.
Instead of continuing to build-up an expensive and state-run monopoly, isn't it time to uncork this industry to competition?
Colin Craig
Provincial Director,
Canadian Taxpayers Federation
