Pubdate: Sat, 19 Dec 2015
Source: Windsor Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2015 The Windsor Star
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/501
Page: A10

JUST SAY NO TO THE LCBO

Other than enriching a government, a party and a union that need no
further enriching, nothing about the LCBO monopoly is worth admiring
or extending to any other aspect of Ontario life.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne caused amusement this week when she
claimed with a straight face that allowing the Liquor Control Board of
Ontario to sell marijuana "makes a lot of sense."

Ontarians didn't need to be either high or loaded to slap their thighs
at that howler. Thanks to the provincial government's 650 unionized
liquor outlets we've paid more, suffered more inconvenience, been
offered less choice and punished more for alcohol consumption than any
people in the world outside of the Middle East.

Only in the blinkered mind of a lifelong denizen of the public sector
such as Premier Wynne would it seem appealing and logical to expand a
widely-loathed government racket to ruin the enjoyment of another
recreational product.

According to Wynne, the LCBO has the experience and expertise needed
to bring an age-controlled substance to the retail market. Those
talents can be tapped, she says, should the federal government deliver
on its election promise to legalize sales.

The fulfillment of that federal promise remains much in doubt. But
let's examine Wynne's idea as though legalization were imminent:

Has the LCBO succeeded in keeping liquor out of the hands of minors?
Does it please customers? Should its reach be expanded into other
areas of Ontario life? Should it be emulated for anything at all?

There are no "yes' answers to any of those questions. However, the
LCBO has been enormously successful in bilking billions more in taxes
and prices from consumers of alcohol than in any other jurisdiction in
the world. It's also been very successful at employing tens of
thousands of union members at some of the highest wages in the world
for stocking shelves, and producing untold political benefits for the
Liberal party beyond the millions in campaign contributions it
receives from that aforementioned union.

Indeed, the most enthusiastic supporter of Wynne's LCBO idea in the
province seems to be OPSEU president Smokey Thomas. He thinks
appointing his members official government dope dealers is a wonderful
idea.

Other than enriching a government, a party and a union that need no
further enriching, nothing about the LCBO monopoly is worth admiring
or extending to any other aspect of Ontario life.

If controlled by the LCBO it is guaranteed that the price of weed
would explode, likely to highest levels in the world if its alcohol
pricing is anything to go by. Hours of retail availability would
likewise be inconvenient for everyone but civil servants. The number
of choices will go down, even as they claim otherwise. And invariably,
since it is a nanny enforcement agency run by the Premier Nanny of a
proudly nannified party, the product will be diluted or stepped on or
degraded in the usual way governments have of taking the fun out of
anything worthy of the name.

This prospect is beginning to sink among the tokers and medical users
in our society. After their giddy embrace of the federal Liberals for
promising to legalize their high, some now dread the prospect.

A better answer than the LCBO would be private, non-government
retailers not beholden to any political party or union. Pharmacies
might be ideal: more widely dispersed, larger, many open 24/7 - and
there are several major competing chains.

And unlike the LCBO, they're all part of the taxpaying real world.
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MAP posted-by: Matt