The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
In many rural areas, Manitobans enjoy the convenience of picking up a bottle of wine along with a loaf of bread at the same place. ThatÕs right, people in small towns like Treherne and Oakbank enjoy a convenience that residents in larger urban centres do not. In Winnipeg, Brandon, Portage and other large urban centres, provincial 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 provincial government that is focused on reducing automobile emissions, how can it defend such a policy? Okay...that might be a stretch, but consider a grant recently handed out by the province 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 carbon footprints and hypocrisy aside, letÕs remember the year is 2008. Man has walked on the moon, the Berlin Wall has come down. Surely Manitobans are ready to pick up a six-pack at their local grocery store. After all, Quebecers, Albertans and billions of other people Ð from the US to communist China Ð 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. 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 afford to lose control of the sale of alcohol. After all, the Manitoba Liquor Control Commission transfers millions to the provincial treasury each year. Alberta 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 allowed their government to preserve that revenue, while improving choice and convenience. Unfortunately, documents show that the MLCC recently spent $2.6 million on renovations to its stores. Not only is this not the proper role of government, it is an unnecessary expenditure. Instead of continuing to build-up an expensive, state-run monopoly, isnÕt it time to uncork this industry to competition? This is an edited version of an editorial by Colin Craig, Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
