Doug Ford's Progressive Conservative government just released its long-term plan for reducing Ontario's $14.5 billion budget deficit and, for some reason, it includes selling liquor until 11 p.m.
A media release accompanying Minister of Finance Vic Fedeli's 2018 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review states that the province is "aggressively pursuing every opportunity to find new efficiencies and savings."
Is extending the LCBO's opening hours to 11pm a good idea?
— blogTO (@blogTO) November 15, 2018
The measures, which include everything from the cancellation of many rebate programs to capping minimum wage, are laid out in five different sections on a new, easy-to-explore website called 'Ontario's Plan for the People.'
Alongside such categories to explore as "Taking Action to Put Ontario’s Fiscal House in Order" and "Tax Relief for Low-Income and Minimum Wage Workers" is a section called "Saving Money, While Improving Choice and Convenience for Beer and Wine Consumers."
Hey Ontario! Stay tuned for details tomorrow… Our Government for the People will make an announcement about expanded retail hours for alcohol sales. #onpoli pic.twitter.com/HzWmS877xe
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) November 15, 2018
That's right, booze has its own dedicated chapter in the provincial government's fiscal roadmap, and it confirms what Ford himself has been alluding to for months: looser liquor laws.
More specifically, the hours and days in which alcohol can be sold at retail stores are expanding.
Like Ontario's forthcoming recreational cannabis stores (more details about which were also released today), the LCBO, Beer Store and other authorized retailers will be permitted to sell alcohol from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m., seven days a week, under the new plan.
The government says it's still working on "developing a plan to expand the sale of beer and wine to corner stores, grocery stores and big-box stores."
Oh yeah, and 'buck-a-beer'. That's technically still a thing too.
by Lauren O'Neil via blogTO
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