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TORONTO, ON – The Ontario government should immediately send notice to the foreign-owned Beer Store that it will allow sales of 12- and 24-packs of beer through the LCBO. This will provide millions to prevent hospital and school closures and preserve vital public services, at no cost to the consumer.
“There is no logic to the government’s arrangement with the Beer Store. We have a serious revenue problem in this province and ending this bizarre deal would be an easy first step to generate badly needed revenue for public services in the province,” says CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn.
The Beer Store is owned by brewers, with the majority shareholders being foreign-owned Anheuser-Busch InBev, Molson Coors, and Sapporo. By allowing sales of 12- and 24-packs of beer through the LCBO, according to some sources, as much as $1billion in revenue could be added to Ontario’s revenue with no effect on retail beer prices. Serving notice today would allow the change to take place in time to be reflected in Ontario’s 2014/15 budget.
“Ontario spends less per capita on public services than any other province, and services are being slashed as a result. Hospitals and schools are closing, the number of people on wait lists for developmental services, affordable child care, and dozens of other key services are skyrocketing,” said Hahn. “I am pleased to know the government is looking at this and I strongly encourage them to act now – it’s an easy way to make a real difference that will protect public services.”
CUPE Ontario recommends taking further steps to restore provincial revenue. One positive step would be reversing provincial corporate tax cuts. These cuts, which lowered corporate taxes to levels not seen since the Great Depression, erased billions of dollars in revenue without delivering jobs or other benefits to the people of Ontario.
CUPE is Ontario’s community union, with members providing quality public services we all rely on in every part of the province every day. CUPE Ontario members are proud to work in social services, health care, municipalities, school boards, universities and airlines.
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For more information, please contact:
Craig Saunders, CUPE Communications, 416-576-7316
