Ontario Premier Doug Ford is going to spend $225 million to get beer and wine into convenience and grocery stores ahead of schedule. Last week, the Ford government announced that it will pay the multinational owners of the Beer Store to allow “early implementation” of expanded liquor sales. The full details of the plan include giving private-sector retailers a wholesale discount of 10 percent off the LCBO’s basic retail price, giving brewers a full rebate of what the LCBO service fees on wholesale beer sales, and giving more over 8,000 grocery and convenience stores the right to sell beer, wine, cider and other beverages at lower prices than the LCBO.
CBC News obtained official figures from the Ministry of Finance and the LCBO which show the province will face a net revenue loss of $150 to $200 million per year as a result of the changes. Combined with the Beer Store payment, the Ford government is giving away over $400 million for no reason other than seemingly trying to score a cheap PR victory ahead of a potentially early election.
Bonnie Crombie, the leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, has been calling the deal “a billion dollar boondoggle,” claiming that the costs will add up to $1 billion in direct payouts to the Beer Store, grocery chains and convenience store owners, and lost LCBO revenue. They are asking both Ontario’s Auditor General and the Legislature’s Financial Accountability Office to investigate the real cost of the deal.
“Earlier this spring Ford promised he’d never sell the LCBO, yet he’s clearly trying to sell us all down the river with this move,” said OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick. “Expanding private alcohol sales is just the latest scheme to transfer public funds into the pockets of CEOs and Ford’s friends while further gutting our public services.”
This deal comes as more than 9,000 LCBO workers represented by OPSEU are bargaining with the government for better wages, fair hours and an end to the slow, backdoor privatization that Ford has been overseeing. The government has already contracted out portions of the LCBO’s printing services, warehousing and distribution to private companies while workers wait years for full time hours and more and more alcohol sales are going to private retailers. The workers are taking a strike vote June 12 – 15.
The LCBO invests roughly $2.5 billion in revenues directly into public services like health care and education each year. Ford’s deal injects tax payer money directly into the pockets of private retailers like Galen Weston and threatens to reduce the government’s annual tax take by about $400 million, according to a confidential projection obtained by CBC News.
This huge giveaway of public money raises the importance of this round of LCBO worker bargaining even more. We need to support workers standing up for public services, good wages, decent working conditions and safer communities. Find out more how you can support with the Justice For Workers’ Solidarity Toolkit.
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