Beer — but by no means buck-a-beer — is coming soon to a corner store near you.Thanks to Premier Doug Ford, big changes are in store for Ontario’s small neighbourhood grocers. After clamouring for years to get a piece of the pie, they are about to get their cut.Ford has just appointed a longtime Alberta politician to brainstorm how to blow up our beer and wine distribution system: Ken Hughes, a one-time minister in Alberta’s Progressive Conservative government, will bring that province’s perspective to Ontario.Who knew that “Ontario’s First Government for the People” would be guided by Alberta’s playbook? Ford long ago aligned himself with Alberta’s right-wing premier-in-waiting, Jason Kenney, on carbon pricing, but are Ontarians ready to import Alberta’s approach to alcohol pricing next?Alberta has led the way in taking the government entirely out of alcohol retailing. Other provinces rely on a mix of private and public distribution to serve customers, while maximizing revenues for government — the better to bankroll other government services, notably health care and education.Ontario has its own peculiar history of public-private alcohol distribution, but the bottom line is that the LCBO delivers a $2 billion dividend annually to its shareholder — the government (for the people). Past columns have documented the Beer Store’s bizarre duopoly with the LCBO that dominated retailing, despite promises from both Liberals (1985) and Tories (1995) to let corner stores in on the action.Read more: Wynne was mocked for saying selling beer in corner stores is ‘reckless.’ Experts agree with herPCs pushing ahead with alcohol review to sell beer in corner storesOpinion | Martin Regg Cohn: Ontario’s buck-a-beer playbook is coming to a campus near you — with tuition discounts too good to be trueIt fell to Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals to finally break the stranglehold ...
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