Wynne Gives Big Retail the Gift of Beer
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- Published on Monday, 23 March 2015 06:30
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A Socialist Project e-bulletin .... No. 1093 .... March 23, 2015
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Wynne Gives Big Retail the Gift of Beer
Gavin Fridell
The heads of big retail might be walking with a spring in their step this week due to a potentially generous gift from Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne. After months of wrangling over what to do with The Beer Store (TBS) semi-monopoly, granted by the Ontario government to some of the world's largest beer companies, Wynne has decided to open things up -- to a select group of giant retail chains.
According to media reports, Wynne plans to offer special licenses for the sale of beer at 300 stores across Ontario. She also plans to impose new taxes on TBS, and loosen restrictions on wine sales.
To allocate these coveted licenses, they will be... auctioned to the highest bidder. This means retail chains will have to pay money upfront to get in on the beer game -- but only because they know they will make far more money in the end.
This ensures that the Ontario government will be able to claim a big chunk of money, for what would appear to be a one-time deal. It also ensures that these licenses will go to those with the most money to bid for them and win.