The government has given the panel five clear principles to guide the
review:
- Safeguarding socially responsible consumption, storage, distribution
and sale of beverage alcohol
- Convenience, variety and competitive prices for consumers
- Maximizing value to taxpayers
- Ensuring responsible reuse and recycling practices
- Promoting Ontario's products
You have to accostomed to reading between the lines in Government motherhood statements on what direction they intend to act. The feel good mission statements tell us more by what is NOT included in them.
Notable abscent in this fuzzy policy statement is:
No mention of framing the retail and distribution of the beverage industry in an atmospere of free competition...read in protectionism for large government patrons here.
No mention of price cuts to the public by removing governt intervention costs and tax....if were were paying the true cost of beer plus a reasonable profit as competition permits a can of Molcoorbat would be about 45 cents.
No mention that private retailers won't be hamstrung with a regualtory regime that makes their small enterprise more risky than the big players.
Lastly , no mention of recinding the price fixing that the current liquor regime engages in.
I will be making inputs and keeping a close ear to this process as I have a hope it will open opportunity for a private business enterprise....but I suspect all that will be acomplished is another shallow token effort....the big brewers and distillers just have too much to lose with the current protected captive market.....can't see McGuinty risking the wrath of the big guys or the loss of revenue. No socialist government with a retail monopoly will ever willingly let the revenue go. They may rearrange the market and regualtory regime so they get the same revenue from different or more sources ...but they won;t do what needs to be done in the Ontraio market which is: get out of the retail business....stop competing with private enterprise, stop price fixing and over taxing and hand the saveing down to the consumer with a free market where the prices are determined by demand and competition.
I saw Sixes of Molsons at a supermarket in Illinois as an "import" for $3.95...when we see similar prices at similar retail outlets I'll say the government is serious.