537 replies to this topic

[gumgum]

^There has been piles of press about this for ages.

[jonny]

^There has been piles of press about this for ages.

Yup. I've seen many news stories myself.

[VicHockeyFan]

Ya, this has had pretty good media.

[James Bay walker]

Ya, when I've been in Quebec, I've seen no problems.

And yet, La Belle Province has the highest drinking rate amongst our provinces. Perhaps those who overdrink there succumb rapidly in the absence of treatment, so it's seen as a non-issue for them.

Provincial rates of current drinking ranged from 72.2% in Prince Edward Island to 82.5% in Quebec

(not exactly a societal plus imo, and an argument for reducing not expanding on liquor's convenient availability)

In 2010, 14.6% of Canadians reported experiencing at least one harm in their lifetime as a result of their alcohol use, a statistically significant decline from 28.3% reported in 2004 and consistent with a lower rate of lifetime alcohol use in 2010.

"their" use (deceased do not report in such surveys)

Alcohol abuse is killing 2.5 million people each year and governments must do more to prevent it, the World Health Organization said Friday. ((February, 2011))

http://www.cbc.ca/ne...ar-who-1.993868

average "age of initiation" into alcohol use: very slowly increasing (2004 to 2010) from 15.6 years to 15.9 years (chart)
http://www.hc-sc.gc....ommaire-eng.php

jbw

ps. And this doesn't touch upon FAS (fetal alcohol syndrome), a horrendous societal cost of even light drinking.

[James Bay walker]

Ya, this has had pretty good media.

Where? I've not seen it (perhaps everyone who is not subscribing to the Times Colonist and local cablevision missed out).

jbw

[Sparky]

They could have posted signs or handed out pamphlets at the liquor stores, but I suppose that the staff would have stored them all in the back.

[Sparky]

The B.C. government is one step closer to permitting liquor sales in provincial grocery stores. [...]

http://www.cbc.ca/ne...y-b-c-1.2287074

[James Bay walker]

They could have posted signs or handed out pamphlets at the liquor stores, but I suppose that the staff would have stored them all in the back.

They could have posted notices in the Victoria News (or equivalent tabloid in other municipalities). They could have done a mailout (almost for free if they'd timed it with some other government mailout). Perhaps they could have put a notification into our B.C. Hydro statement envelopes (some revenue for B.C. Hydro, huge savings over an independant mailout by our government).

jbw

[jonny]

It certainly would be nice to be able to pick up a bottle of wine with my steaks, a case of beer with my burgers or mint and lime with my rum to make mojitos.

But, it sounds like the government is proposing that liquor stores open up inside of grocery stores, which doesn't really sound a whole lot more convenient to me. There will still be two lines to wait in and still two payments to make.

[VicHockeyFan]

Minister Yap is recommending booze in grocery stores.  Report coming out.

[jklymak]

Yay!  Even if it were just beer and wine, this would be fabulous. 

[Matt R.]

Wonder what this actually means since he also said that they would not be adding any more retail outlets to the mix, and there is a provincial moratorium on LRS licenses until 2022.

 

Great, let's allow booze in grocery stores, but we won't be accepting any applications for 8 more years.

 

Matt.

[VicHockeyFan]

Ya, it's odd.  Also, they have 70 recommendations, yet the only one they released today is the booze-in-grocery-stores one.

[gumgum]

I think this is a mistake. Spent a lot of time in Quebec in my youth and the selection was mostly terrible. There could be another reason. Who knows.
But what about all the small liquor stores that are around these days. What does that mean for them? They hop skip and jump through all these hoops to get there and they're slapped in the face with this? Seems unfair.

[Matt R.]

This means that for Safeway be able to sell booze in Tillicum Mall, they will have to buy the license from Liquor Express, a few doors down.  It won't mean MORE access to liquor (in fact, probably less), it will just be slightly closer to your milk and bread and eggs.

 

It also means that, depending on how hungry Safeway is to get into the booze market, the license that Liquor Express owns just got very valuable.  Safeway will not be allowed to apply for a license, they can however apply to purchase and transfer one as far as I know.

 

It's really a big fuss about nothing, smokescreen.  

 

Matt.

[Holden West]

I can go into a beer and wine store today and maybe get some advice or tips on the product but that Safeway stockboy won't be able to give me anything except a blank stare.

[jklymak]

^ first grocery stores in the states have great beer and wine selections. Second, there are still small boutique wine stores, at least in California. The one I knew was part of a wine bar, so you could have wine and cheese, and then buy a couple of bottles of what you liked and take it home.

Our liquor laws have got to loosen up. I hope this report is more than a smokescreen.

[gumgum]

Sure hope they start allowing kids in pubs.

[VicHockeyFan]

Sure hope they start allowing kids in pubs.

 

I know.  My 12-year-old son bugs me every time we drive by the Red Lion, he really wants to go in.  And my 16-year-old daughter is looking for work above minimum wage.

[gumgum]

Well they allow it in Ontario and it's a non-issue. Not in bars however. Only pubs.