The Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce may be staying out of the privatization debate surrounding the Creighton Liquor Store, but Cumberland MLA Doyle Vermette has no such intention.
Tom Therien, president of the chamber, said the business-advocacy organization has not been asked to take a position on the Saskatchewan government’s review of its alcohol retail system.
He sees the issue as lying outside the chamber’s mandate of promoting business.
“That’s a government issue, not a chamber issue,” said Therien.
For his part Vermette, a New Democrat who represents Creighton in the legislature, said the province should not give up the local store or any other liquor store it already owns.
“The [government] store in Creighton is the only option for residents to buy bottles of liquor,” he said. “If this government closes [government] stores, there’s no guarantee that a private-sector vendor would open a liquor store to serve the area.”
Modernized
The NDP want liquor stores modernized, Vermette said, to offer more convenient hours, more flexible pricing, greater selection and additional support for local and craft beer and liquor.
“Creighton families and community leaders should be the ones to determine the level of alcohol service best for their community,” he said.
The opposition party is also proposing Saskatchewan consider placing liquor outlets in grocery stores in communities that are interested, Vermette said.
While the Saskatchewan Party government is holding consultations over the future of liquor retailing, Vermette worries the province has already made up its mind to push for further or complete privatization.
“The government doesn’t seem concerned with things that make a difference to customers – like price, which it says won’t change – but it is in favour of having liquor profits in Saskatchewan benefit just a few people, instead of everyone,” he said.
While some question why the government should sell alcohol, Vermette said this policy generates dollars that help maintain valuable public services.
“We learned from Alberta’s privatization of liquor sales that privatization results in more alcohol being consumer per person, but much less money going to the province to pay for the things we all need,” he said.
The Saskatchewan government is considering five options for the province’s liquor retail system, ranging from the status quo to a fully private structure.
“There are a lot of opinions about how we should sell liquor,” Don McMorris, the minister responsible for the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority, said in a press statement.
Premier Brad Wall has already announced that any new liquor stores opening in Saskatchewan will be private, though his government will not sell off its existing stores without a strong mandate from the public, according to CBC.
The province’s consultation process runs until Jan. 30, 2015.
