Demand for more options, better choices here to stay

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This article was published 26/07/2023 (1043 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

“We don’t have to starve them of liquor. We can let them enjoy their summer. Because, really, our summers are short, we have some nice weather coming this week and we want Manitobans to be able to buy products from MBLL.”

— MGEU president Kyle Ross

 

Manitoba’s government-owned and operated Liquor Mart stores are no longer the only game in town when it comes to selling alcohol to the masses.

Beer stores like the one on Rosser Avenue that opened a few years ago are open until midnight from Sunday to Thursday, and until 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. And others, like the City Centre vendor, are open routinely until 2 a.m. to 2:30 a.m., on Fridays and Saturdays. And there are several others in Brandon, such as The 40, The Beer Warehouse and the Keystone Beer Company.

While they haven’t got the novelty of offering wine and more expensive spirits to customers, Brandonites are not going without while Liquor Mart employees stage rolling walkouts in Brandon as part of strike action through the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union.

While Mr. Ross suggests that they want Brandon and other Manitoba residents not to be inconvenienced by the ongoing strike action during our brief summer months, it’s also likely that trying to extend the olive branch to local tipplers is also a means to self-preservation of the government liquor sales model.

Earlier this year, the province re-introduced legislation that proposed changes to the Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Control Act that would have allowed privately owned stores to stock liquor on their shelves, as part of a five-year pilot project.

The aim, according to Liquor and Lotteries Minister Andrew Smith, was to give Manitobans more convenience and choice, and bring Manitoba more in line with other provinces.

As reported by The Canadian Press last March, Manitoba’s current liquor system is a mixture of private and government-run stores that doesn’t include outlets such as corner stores. While government liquor stores sell the full range of alcohol products — as do many private vendors in rural communities — private stand-alone beer vendors and wine stores in urban areas like Brandon are allowed to offer a limited range of products.

One exemption, of course, are private wine stores that are allowed to operate in Winnipeg, but not in the province’s second-largest city — a subject that likely still irritates a few local entrepreneurs who would be interested in the option.

But the provincial New Democrats halted passage of the two Stefanson government bills, stating that they wanted to protect provincial revenues derived from the sale of alcohol, which support health care, education and infrastructure in the province. NDP critic Lisa Naylor also told media that blocking the two bills was a necessity while Manitoba experiences an addictions crisis.

“What we don’t want is people being able to pick up a bottle of vodka at the 7-Eleven at two in the morning or having to deal with that when they take their kids their for a Slurpee after school,” Naylor said last April.

While that particular situation isn’t yet possible — in Brandon at least — other alcohol is readily available to consumers beyond the Manitoba Liquor Marts. It’s also true that cannabis sales in this province already operate under a privately run, government-regulated model, in which the MBLL applies a wholesale markup on non-medical cannabis, much like what is already done on alcohol sales. The logic of preventing further privatization when it comes to liquor sales would seem faulty.

We’re not suggesting the provincial government — whether it be PC or NDP come the fall — should shutter government-owned liquor stores in favour of private interests as they have done in Alberta. We can and should forge our own path forward. But there is also no reason why alcohol sales cannot continue to contribute revenue to health and education in this province.

The demand for better choices and more options will only grow with each passing year as Manitobans experience what they’re missing in other provinces. It’s a clash of political ideologies that won’t simply go away after a new contract is hammered out, and the picket lines disappear.

And that fact may better explain union efforts to minimize the lack of wine and cocktails at your backyard barbecue this month.