Pubdate: Tue, 04 Oct 2016 Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON) Copyright: 2016 Canoe Limited Partnership Contact: http://www.torontosun.com/letter-to-editor Website: http://torontosun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/457 Author: Christina Blizzard Page: 42 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE LCBO? MEET RICKY, JULIAN AND BUBBLES You know what they say: Candy's dandy. And liquor's quicker. But a combination of pot, hash and whisky - well, it's fast on its way to an LCBO near you. Liquormen's Ol' Dirty Canadian Whisky, which is promoted by the Trailer Park Boys, suggests you should mix its booze with a "six-paper joint." It also suggests it's the right booze to drink early in the morning. "Let's face it, some days you're going to wake up and start drinking before 10 a.m.," it says, under its recipe section of the website. The LCBO is set to launch the brand on Thursday. How's that for "social responsibility" when it comes to our state-run liquor store? OK, understand this is a spoof. I know the Trailer Park Boys' trademark is booze, drugs and profanity. But the LCBO is a government agency dedicated to social responsibility. They've been entrusted with the job of selling booze to us because, apparently, we need people to tell us how to do this in a sensible fashion. Stocking a product that tells people to liquor up before noon and what goes best with six-paper spliff is really not a role we want from the government. Asked about the product Monday, Premier Kathleen Wynne said she hadn't heard about it. "None of that sounds particularly savoury to me - and dangerous," she told reporters, adding she'll "look into it." A spokesman for the LCBO said the offensive materials are not LCBO advertising, but were created by the manufacturer. "Each manufacturer is independently subject to AGCO (Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario) advertising guidelines for beverage alcohol. "LCBO follows AGCO and CRTC advertising guidelines in all of its own advertising and reviews all labels of products sold on its shelves for compliance with those guidelines as well as federal labelling rules," said Christine Bujold. "This includes screening for possibly offensive or misleading wording and graphics, before products are approved for sale in LCBO stores." She said social responsibility messaging is integrated into all advertising, publications and online content created by LCBO. The Liquorman's Ol' Dirty Canadian Whisky, which is made by Dartmouth Spirits in Nova Scotia, is promoted by the Trailer Park Boys and will be available at LCBO stores for purchase later this week. Deputy Premier Deb Matthews insists the government takes social responsibility seriously. "The paramount issue is social responsibility. When the LCBO has the benefit of being the only liquor seller in the province, then that also means that there's a big social responsibility component to it," she told reporters. Then again, the federal Liberal government is planning to legalize marijuana. So if it's socially responsible to do that, and if booze is legal, what's the problem with combining the two, I asked Matthews. Or is is the federal government being socially irresponsible to legalize pot? "It's the socially responsible thing to legalize marijuana. I think it's the right thing to do and we're waiting for the federal government to give guidelines on exactly how that's to be done," she said. Well, here's a solution. Perhaps we should put Trailer Park Boys in charge of legalizing pot. The LCBO is the largest purchaser of beverage alcohol in the world. Perhaps in future they should do a little more due diligence on what they're stocking before they put it on the shelves. * Here's some of the recipes on the Liquorman's Ol' Dirty Canadian Whisky website: ZESTY MORDANT Ingredients: Liquormen's Six papers An entire day to kill Roll up a six paper joint, grab a bag of chips, and pour yourself a straight glass of Liquormen's. Today you're getting f----d up and there's not a goddamn thing Lahey can do about it. THE SUNNYVALE Ingredients: Liquormen's Hash Hockey Pull out your hot knives, prepare your throat, and wash it back with a chilled glass of Liquormen's. Grab a friend and challenge him to a game of hash hockey. PROPANE PROPANE Ingredients: Liquormen's Let's face it, some days you're going to wake up and start drinking before 10AM. What's important is that you limit yourself to just a couple drinks. Pour a few shots of Liquormen's into a glass and go from there. You deserve it. "Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles launch Liquormen's Ol' Dirty Canadian Whisky to honour the legacy of the Old West Bandits. Liquormen's enters production and becomes available in Atlantic Canada. The Boy's begin to look into contracts with liquor corporations across the entire f-----g country. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt