Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he intends to keep his 2018 campaign promise to allow beer and wine to be sold in convenience stores. Ford was asked about it at an unrelated press conference on Monday.
Ford says, “We’re going to fulfill that promise, we’ve expanded it tremendously since we’ve been in office.” The premier says his government will bring the beverages to Ontario’s corner stores, just like he said he would five years ago, but to do it he needs to cut a new deal with the companies that own the beer store.
He says, “There is a contract with The Beer Store’s, we’re going to be working with them. A lot of people are in the misunderstanding that The Beer Store’s are owned by the government, they aren’t.”
The Beer Store is a private company owned by Molson-Coors, the Labatt Brewing Company, and Sleeman Breweries. It has exclusive rights to sell some beer products in Ontario which is part of a ten-year deal with the previous Liberal government in 2015. If the province allows sales of alcohol in convenience stores, they would have to pay hefty fees to The Beer Store.
Opposition leader Marit Stiles says there are benefits to selling beer and wine at corner stores but, “there needs to be some more engagement around this issue and certainly with workers in the LCBO we know have concerns.”
Liberal house leader John Fraser says The Beer Store has its advantages, “reducing distribution, carbon footprint, and allowing local brewers access to the market.”
The Ford government passed a bill in 2019 to axe the deal with The Beer Store, which is called the Master Framework Agreement. The deal remains intact and is set to expire in 2025.
