Not only is alcohol much cheaper in the United States (eleven bucks for a case of Heineken helped make a recent vacation Stateside that much better),
These facts are well-known to every of-age Canadian who has travelled to the U.S. - and may form some of the feedback residents are expected to give Victoria as the BC Liberal government launches the first significant review of liquor policy since 1999.
Visitors to the United States know one can buy beer or wine in department stores like Target, in grocery stores like Safeway and in corner stores like 7-Eleven.
It's a convenience that seems to operate just fine; ingrained as it is in the U.S. - and in Quebec - it doesn't seem to be a big deal to anyone but a first-time visitor from bureaucratic B.C., where some of the existing regulations can leave many heads wounded from much scratching.
From some reason, one beer and wine store cannot open within one kilometre from another without first hurdling regulatory hell; restaurants cannot buy alcohol from a private liquor store, only from public stores; there are no happy hours allowed and the number of rules dictating when and where and how businesses can and cannot sell alcohol is positively Byzantine.
Is anybody not puzzled by the fact the cheapest bottle of B.C. wine can be found far from B.C. - in California?
Or that one can drink a beer with their kids while seated at a table at the sketchiest of restaurants, but cannot do the same with their kids while seated at a table at the most upscale of pubs?
John Yap, parliamentary secretary for liquor policy reform, is expected to submit a report to Justice Minister Suzanne Anton by Nov. 25, after which it will be made public.
"Right now, some of B.C.'s liquor laws go back many years," Anton said, noting the Liberals are looking at making "practical and responsible changes that promote consumer convenience and economic growth in the province, with a strong eye to maintaining public safety and protecting the health of our citizens."
The government's record on protecting the public has been the focus of the University of Victoria's Centre for Addictions Research, which argues that B.C. leads and lags in alcohol-related policy.
The Centre for Addictions Research also published a report, in partnership with the Prevention Research Center in Berkeley, Calif., that argued privatizing liquor sales results in more alcohol-related deaths.
Of course, there are critics of that research and I am sure both sides will weigh in when asked to provide input as B.C. attempts, yet again, to simplify its alcohol regulations.
One would hope the resulting policies will seriously address the "taboo" aspect of alcohol that is so prevalent in B.C.
When I was 15 or so, my girlfriend's father offered me a beer during dinner at her house. I was taken aback, but learned that sipping a beer or wine during dinner is nothing new for teens in Europe.
As my then-girlfriend noted, it therefore ceases to become an elusive tonic to be abused when one reaches a magical age.
This mature approach to alcohol could be extended, of course, to allowing a couple to relax in a park with a bottle of wine; to allow patrons to actually continue to enjoy their summer night on a restaurant or pub patio without the dreaded 11 p.m. curfew kicking in; to allow busy people to stop at a grocery story and add a six-pack to their grocery cart.
The government has asked 10,000 liquor-related businesses to provide input on liquor regulations.
The public will have its say in September.
Christopher Foulds is editor of Kamloops This Week.
