A visit to another country is always an opportunity to reflect on Canada’s attributes and oddities.
Case in point is how I recently spent 10 days hiking through Italy. While there, I was reminded about what I value in Canada but also what I’d import from the Mediterranean.
I’d let the Italians keep their pizza parliament and their former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. But I’d happily take the Italian approach to dinner and drinks over much of Canada’s Prohibition-era approach to wine, beer and spirits.
The especially odd thing about Canada, but British Columbia specifically, given that it’s the most liberal province in the country, is the antiquated B.C. government policy on alcohol sales.
Ten years ago, I wrote up a study comparing B.C.’s system of dominant government liquor stores (with a restricted number of private liquor stores) with Alberta’s 1993 privatization of government liquor stores.
After accounting for taxes and markups in both provinces, Alberta’s system was far better for consumers on price and selection. This should be unsurprising.
When Alberta’s government privatized every government liquor store, the government then allowed anyone anywhere without a criminal record to open up a private liquor store. The only significant restriction was that it had to be stand-alone.
That stand-alone caveat was a sop to Alberta’s existing private liquor stores. It meant (regrettably) supermarkets couldn’t simply open up an extra aisle and stock the neighbourhood preferences on beer, wine and spirits. But Alberta’s approach was and still is the closest any Canadian province has come to full competition in the sale of your favourite fermented drink.
In contrast stands B.C. government policy. Shortly after the provincial Liberals came to power in 2001, the government briefly allowed some additional private liquor stores into the retail mix, but soon shut the application window, and it has since remained closed. That resulted in a duopoly: government liquor stores (with unions opposed to competition) and a cohort of private liquor stores (that don’t want extra competitors).
The B.C. “model” is why at present, despite how 800,000 more people live in B.C. (4.6 million) when compared with Alberta (3.8 million), B.C. has less than half the number of liquor stores that Alberta has. B.C. has 699 private stores and 197 government stores.
Even if you add in the number of winery locations in B.C. – with limited and not full product selections – that’s another 241 locations, for a grand total of 1,137 stores in B.C.
Alberta has 1,959 liquor stores, all private. That makes for intense competition. It’s also why Alberta has Canada’s most consumer-friendly market for beer, wine and spirits on price, selection and service.
But the B.C. government’s duopolistic approach to liquor stores is only one anachronistic policy on beverage sales. Here’s another: how the BC Liberals are attempting to skirt the effect of a new federal change in law to allow Canadians to import wine from other provinces.
As Business in Vancouver readers will know from a recent story from reporter Glen Korstrom (“Wine industry irked over B.C. liquor law confusion – BIV issue 1182; June 19-15), the B.C. government wants to limit the amount British Columbians can physically buy and import to nine litres of wine (and three litres of spirits and 25.6 litres of beer, cider and coolers).
Further, the minister responsible for the British Columbia Liquor Distribution Branch and the policy, Rich Coleman, told Korstrom it will still be illegal to buy any alcohol (including wine) over the Internet unless it’s bought from a B.C. supplier. In other words, welcome back to the government-created B.C. duopoly. Flout the B.C. policy and you could be subject to a $200 fine or three months in jail if you don’t pay the ticket.
Coleman’s excuse – he wants a deal with Ontario on the Internet wine thing before the B.C. government will “allow” British Columbians – is weak. Last time I checked, we’re all Canadians, which should be reason enough to abolish all restrictions on provincial trade.
Besides, the Prohibition-era policy on government liquor stores that exists in nine of 10 Canadian provinces should be dropped. If the Italians can buy beer, wine and spirits at the corner store or a grocery store, or order their dinner drinks on the Internet from some winery halfway across the country, there’s no reason to prevent Canadians from doing the same. •
