Note: I’m not sure if you heard the “shocking” news today but, and I quote here, the “McGuinty Government Proposes Removing Restrictions On Ontarians.” Yes, that’s exactly what your government wrote. They want to “remove” restrictions that have been a burden on a great many Ontarians.
Here’s the exact press release issued today:
February 23, 2011
Ontario is taking the next steps to update alcohol laws to better serve Ontarians. The proposed changes will remove unnecessary barriers and restrictions for special events, festivals, and licensed establishments. This will provide Ontarians with a more enjoyable experience, and improve tourism and local economies.
The province will begin consultations on a number of proposed changes, including:
• Removing the need for beer tents at events and festivals so people can walk around freely with drinks
• Extending the hours that alcohol can be served at special events, such as weddings or charity fundraisers, from 1 a.m. to 2 a.m., to be consistent with licensed establishments
• Allowing all-inclusive vacation packages to be sold in Ontario
• Allowing people to circulate in retail booth areas of festivals with beverages.
The government is also proposing to expand its enforcement options against licensees who violate Ontario’s liquor laws, including monetary fines.
Modernizing the province’s liquor laws is part of the province’s “Open Ontario plan” to strengthen our economy and create new opportunities for jobs.
QUICK FACTS
• Every year, festivals and events generate more than 22,000 jobs in Ontario.
• Tourism spending contributes more than $22 billion annually to our economy, and supports approximately 300,000 direct and indirect jobs.
END PRESS RELEASE
What I love, what I really really love, about this press release is the language. Take this, for example:
“Modernizing the province’s liquor laws is part of the province’s Open Ontario plan to strengthen our economy and create new opportunities for jobs.”
Modernizing? We have the most antiquated liquor laws in the world. Getting rid of a tent here and tent there, and allowing resorts to have all-inclusive booze packages isn’t going to change that. It’s not even a start. The entire announcement today is a bogus attempt to make gullible Ontarians feel like the government has taken bold steps to modernize a system that still has its roots firmly planted in the Dark Ages.
Our liquor laws are pathetic. There is no vision from this government and, to be fair, there has been no real vision from any government since Prohibition. These new rules do nothing to get us any closer to what really needs to be done.
Instead of tents and all-inclusive resorts, consumers need:
• Better access to local wines. Plain and simple. The white elephant in the room is the LCBO and the restrictions it places on local wineries being able to sell their wines at government, monopoly stores. We need to dismantle the monopoly, slowly if you like, but we need to chip away at it just like every province in this country is doing. We should start with private VQA wines stores. But, to make it easier, let’s license a few private stores and place some conditions on them — like a policy to to allow a large percentage of space to be devoted to those Ontario wineries who want to sell their wines. A Beer Store model has been bandied about. There are ideas out there. Let’s start exploring them.
• Knowledge. This government just doesn’t get what’s going or understand the concerns of Ontario wineries or the consumers who drink their wines. Get some help from people who get it. Know the frustrations of the people who work in the industry, who shop in woefully inadequate LCBO stores, who care about local wines. With knowledge comes change.
• Work with the federal government to get rid of equally antiquated laws that prohibit the sale of Canadian wines across provincial borders. Is this ridiculous? That’s a redundant question. Of course it is. We need your help, Dalton.
• Instead of tents and resorts, you could have started with the fruit wine industry that can’t even sell their wonderful products at country fairs. Is this progressive? Fruit wines are not the devil’s work. They are an agricultural product made from the blood, sweat and tears of good Ontario farmers. Give them the help they need to make a living.
• Ontarians who care about the wine industry are fed up with banging their heads against the wall. We need progress, not government press releases touting monumental changes and the “modernizing” of liquor laws in Ontario. It’s just not true. Let’s talk, let’s make a plan and let’s really start kicking this thing into gear. Election or no election, the time is now.
Hi Rick,
When I read the headline, I thought, oh great they’re going to allow Ontario wineries to actually sell their wines (full bottles, that is) at festivals and wine shows just like they do in New York State. No such luck.
Wino-fred
Another sad day for the Ontario wine industry. One day in the distant future, McGuinty and Co. will be gone, and then the rest of us can get around to the business of modernising the Prohibition-era liquor regime that continues to oppress our industry.
Its a tiny baby step in the right direction…. still miles from where it needs to be, but any step in the right direction is a start. I definitely agree that the changes you suggest need to be made, and yes those changes are more important than the minor ones the government made. However these changes were also needed. Personally I think McGuinty needs to toss the liquor laws entirely and start from scratch, but you and I both know that’s not gonna happen.
You expect the government to actually listen to us…. well that WOULD be a unique concept ;).
I totally agree. A summit on our outdated liquor laws is needed with a huge consumer input component. These “little” changes are a very tiny step forward, but it’s the big picture that we need to focus on. Thanks for the comment!
Our day will come. OK, maybe it will come for our children. OK, maybe our children’s children.
Hahahahaaha – we are allowed out of our beer tents! But I can’t send a bottle of wine to my relatives nor drink a glass of wine at a picks. Puritanism at it’s ugliest….
It’s interesting that you mentioned picknik. I complained to the LCBO years ago because in one of their ads they showed a couple enjoying a glass of wine while having a picknik. They tried to tell me this was in a private campground where it was allowed. What a bunch of BS.
If only it was just McGuinty, but unfortunately its not high on any politicians list to listen to wineries. McGuinty didn’t put in the legislation, and those that follow him aren’t likely to make dramatic leaps to modernize any more than McGuinty is.
Sad, but true.