FACE TO FACE: Should B.C. privatize distribution of liquor?
J. Lohr cabernet sauvignon costs $8.99 at Ralph's in California and $29.99 in B.C.
Yes, booze in B.C. is expensive.
Yes, we all decry mark-ups of 123% on wine and 170% on spirits.
And admittedly, many of our liquor laws and practices need changing.
That said, whether liquor sales are public or private, what most consumers want in B.C. are fairer prices and greater selection.
Those of us not averse to the occasional tipple can dream that the government's rush to privatize liquor distribution will propel us to the kind of prices enjoyed by U.S. imbibers - but there's no indication that it will.
According to the Consumer Association of Canada, privatizing B.C.'s liquor distribution would result in an increase in prices and a decline in availability and selection.
Even Energy and Mines Minister Rich Coleman won't say that privatization would lower prices. Coleman does say that government will maintain control over pricing, taxation and revenue, and that union workers will not lose their jobs.
So if government gets the same revenue and liquor workers keep their jobs, why would we exchange a public monopoly for a private one?
The only defensible reason for selling such an enterprise would be if it would save government money, lower prices or improve selection.
This is unlikely given that one of the top bidders for B.C.'s Liquor Distribution Branch is Alberta liquor distributor Exel Logistics. It's more likely the Alberta experience would be repeated here: more small outlets with higher prices, sparse selection and minimum-wage workers.
This liquor privatization plan was recently lobbied back to life, Gordon Campbell having decided that there was no benefit to privatization, that it was a solution in search of a problem.
We in B.C. have always demanded more from our liquor than the warm glow we get from a precocious little pinot noir. Selling booze contributes $900 million annually towards government programs and provides 3,500 well-paying jobs to B.C. families.
Instead of selling off the lucrative Liquor Distribution Branch, we might work to develop a model for liquor distribution and sale that would encourage real competition and lower liquor prices.
Or perhaps we might just choose social spending and well-paid workers over our quixotic dream of California-style liquor prices.
Face to Face columnist Jim Nelson is a retired Tri-City teacher and principal who lives in Port Moody. He has contributed a number of columns on education-related issues to The Tri-City News.
