Shrugging off concerns about international trade challenges and massive financial penalties owed to the Beer Store, Premier Doug Ford says Ontarians are thirsting for corner-store six-packs.“I had some folks from the U.S. up here yesterday and I told them about the beer battle. They looked at us like we had three heads that you can’t go into a retail store and buy a steak and food and pick up (beer),” Ford said Wednesday.While beer is already widely available at hundreds of Ontario supermarkets, the premier was defending his controversial decision to unilaterally legislate an end to a 10-year agreement with the Beer Store signed in 2015.Breaching that accord — inked by former premier Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals to expand beer and wine sales to 450 supermarkets — could cost $1 billion in compensation to the brewing giants that control the Beer Store.Because the parent corporations of Molson, Labatt, and Sleeman are based in the U.S., Belgium, and Japan, the Ontario government’s legislation exposes Canadian taxpayers to challenges under trade deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and its forthcoming successor.That means Ottawa could ultimately be on the hook for any trade claims under those treaties.But Ford, who does not drink alcohol, insists Ontario consumers want more places to buy beer.“I’ll put my bottom dollar on it ... that when they are in the convenience store and they’re in the retail stores and it’s a hot summer day ... there’s going to be a lot of thirsty mouths going into those convenience stores to get a cold beer,” he said.NDP MPP Taras Natyshak (Essex) said the Progressive Conservatives “claim they can expropriate, without compensation, whenever the glorious leader demands it.”“Trade experts and business analysts have looked at the premier’s Beer Store scheme and the reviews ... are about as bad as his approval rating right now,̶ ...
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