Premier Doug Ford’s government is preparing to change the rules on how beer, wine, cider and spirits are sold in Ontario, and there’s plenty at stake — well beyond whether you’ll be able to pick up a case at the corner store.
The looming reforms also pit a range of interests against each other, as big supermarket companies, convenience store chains, the giant beer and wine producers, craft brewers and small wineries all vie for the best deal possible when Ontario’s almost $10-billion-a-year retail landscape shifts.
As the negotiations proceed, the Ford government faces its own internal dilemma between its competing desires of giving the free market more control of booze sales vs. keeping LCBO revenues flowing into the provincial treasury.
All sources expect the government to give notice by the end of December that it intends to terminate the contract that sets out the rules for beer sales in the province, known as the Master Framework Agreement (MFA), as also reported by The Toronto Star.
“The MFA has never been about choice, convenience or prices for customers, it has always been about serving the interests of the big brewing conglomerates, and that’s what needs to be addressed,” said Michelle Wasylyshen, spokesperson for the Retail Council of Canada, whose board of directors includes members from Loblaw, Sobeys, Metro, Walmart and Costco.
When Ford made his campaign promise to allow corner stores to sell beer and wine, he ignored the fact that doing so would have put the province on the hook to the big brewers for hundreds of millions of dollars, under the terms of the Master Framework Agreement.
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Premier Doug Ford’s government is preparing to change the rules on how beer, wine, cider and spirits are sold in Ontario, and there’s plenty at stake — well beyond whether you’ll be able to pick up a case at the corner store.
The looming reforms also pit a range of interests against each other, as big supermarket companies, convenience store chains, the giant beer and wine producers, craft brewers and small wineries all vie for the best deal possible when Ontario’s almost $10-billion-a-year retail landscape shifts.
As the negotiations proceed, the Ford government faces its own internal dilemma between its competing desires of giving the free market more control of booze sales vs. keeping LCBO revenues flowing into the provincial treasury.
All sources expect the government to give notice by the end of December that it intends to terminate the contract that sets out the rules for beer sales in the province, known as the Master Framework Agreement (MFA), as also reported by The Toronto Star.
“The MFA has never been about choice, convenience or prices for customers, it has always been about serving the interests of the big brewing conglomerates, and that’s what needs to be addressed,” said Michelle Wasylyshen, spokesperson for the Retail Council of Canada, whose board of directors includes members from Loblaw, Sobeys, Metro, Walmart and Costco.
When Ford made his campaign promise to allow corner stores to sell beer and wine, he ignored the fact that doing so would have put the province on the hook to the big brewers for hundreds of millions of dollars, under the terms of the Master Framework Agreement.
The original article contains 1,829 words, the summary contains 265 words. Saved 86%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!