Pubdate: Wed, 30 Dec 2015
Source: Recorder & Times, The (CN ON)
Copyright: 2015 Recorder and Times
Contact: http://www.recorder.ca/letters
Website: http://www.recorder.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2216
Page: A6

JUST SAY 'NO' TO THE LCBO SELLING POT

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne caused amusement recently 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 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.

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.

- - Postmedia Network
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom