Close X
Wednesday, October 2, 2024
ADVT 
National

Saskatchewan Turning Over 40 Government-Owned Liquor Stores To Private Hands

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 18 Nov, 2015 11:49 AM
    REGINA — The Saskatchewan government is shaking up liquor sales by selling 40 of its 75 liquor stores to make them private outlets.
     
    Don McMorris, minister for the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority, says it was time to modernize how booze is sold.
     
    "There's been 70 years of regulation protectionism built up in this system and we don't get rid of it all, but we take a very large step, first step, maybe last step, I don't know, into the future," McMorris said Wednesday.
     
    "So we take a step kind of tearing a lot of that back and by doing that, I think we give citizens of the province more choice, more convenience and more competitive pricing."
     
    The province will also add 12 new private liquor stores in various communities.
     
    McMorris says the changes will also level the playing field for all stores because they will all have the same rules.
     
    That means all stores will be able to operate between 8 a.m. and 3 a.m., can all sell any type of chilled product, and will pay a uniform wholesale price. Those rules are currently different for government-owned liquor stores, franchises in rural communities, outlets known as off-sales that have the ability to stay open late and four private stores that recently opened in Regina and Saskatoon.
     
    A request for proposal is to be made to select new operators, but government liquor store employees are to get preferential consideration if they want to buy the store.
     
    The overhaul to the liquor system comes after the government launched a consultation in November 2014. McMorris says people spoke up.
     
    "People expected change. People want change, but did they want to go extreme? And that was clear. Certainly some did and some (wanted) status quo," said McMorris.
     
    The minister also says the province should still collect the same amount of revenue because all retailers will have to buy alcohol through the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority.
     
    It will be up to retailers to set the price for alcohol, but McMorris says he believes 99 per cent of liquor will be sold at about the same price.
     
    The changes won't be implemented until after the provincial election in April 2016.
     
    Premier Brad Wall has said the Saskatchewan Party will campaign on the liquor changes and that winning the election would be receiving approval from Saskatchewan residents.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    B.C. Coroner's Jury Makes 25 Recommendations In Deaths Of Autistic Boy And Mom

    B.C. Coroner's Jury Makes 25 Recommendations In Deaths Of Autistic Boy And Mom
    Thirty-nine-year-old Angie Robinson killed her herself on April 3, 2014, after taking the life of her autistic 16-year-old son Robert.

    B.C. Coroner's Jury Makes 25 Recommendations In Deaths Of Autistic Boy And Mom

    If Monster Trade Deal Is Reached, Canada Will Release Details, Harper Says

    If Monster Trade Deal Is Reached, Canada Will Release Details, Harper Says
    It sounds like an agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership is close — and when it's done, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper says he intends to disclose the details of what he's billing as the largest trade deal in history.

    If Monster Trade Deal Is Reached, Canada Will Release Details, Harper Says

    3 Dead, At Least 15 Injured In Serious Multi-vehicle Crash On Highway 401 At Whitby, Ont.

    3 Dead, At Least 15 Injured In Serious Multi-vehicle Crash On Highway 401 At Whitby, Ont.
    A man, a woman and a boy died in the pileup and as many as 20 vehicles, including four tractor-trailer trucks, were involved in the collision in the westbound lanes of the highway

    3 Dead, At Least 15 Injured In Serious Multi-vehicle Crash On Highway 401 At Whitby, Ont.

    Golden Tree Statue Installed In Memory Of 3 Indo-Canadian Farmworkers Killed In Abbotsford Van Crash

    Golden Tree Statue Installed In Memory Of 3 Indo-Canadian Farmworkers Killed In Abbotsford Van Crash
    31-year-old Sarbjit Kaur Sidhu, 52-year-old Amarjit Kaur Bal and 46-year-old Sukhvider Kaur Punia were killed in March 2007 when a van struck a concrete median on Highway 1 near Abbotsford

    Golden Tree Statue Installed In Memory Of 3 Indo-Canadian Farmworkers Killed In Abbotsford Van Crash

    Howard Richmond, Ontario Soldier Who Killed His Wife Not Criminally Responsible For Murder: Defence

    Howard Richmond, Ontario Soldier Who Killed His Wife Not Criminally Responsible For Murder: Defence
    The trial of a Canadian soldier who killed his wife, but says he's not criminally responsible, heard from a restaurant employee Friday who spotted the victim's vehicle after she was reported missing.

    Howard Richmond, Ontario Soldier Who Killed His Wife Not Criminally Responsible For Murder: Defence

    TPP: Negotiators Close In On Auto Deal, Approaching 12-Country Trade Pact

    TPP: Negotiators Close In On Auto Deal, Approaching 12-Country Trade Pact
    Details have filtered out to stakeholder groups gathered in Atlanta for negotiations toward a 12-country trade pact.

    TPP: Negotiators Close In On Auto Deal, Approaching 12-Country Trade Pact