Privatize LCBO, Hudak says

Ontario Progressive Conservative (PC) Leader Tim Hudak wants to privatize the LCBO and is also pushing for the provincial government to get out of the lottery business.

“It’s time to end the LCBO and Beer Store monopolies,” Hudak said at a news conference on Tuesday morning.

“It’s about…treating people as adults in Ontario.”

Hudak said that a PC government would end the monopoly at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, allowing beer and wine to be sold at corner stores. However, he said, the government would still collect taxes from the sale of alcohol.

NDP MPP Peter Tabuns argued Tuesday that the government made a lot of money from the LCBO and needed to retain that revenue stream.

“This idea has been examined by Mike Harris, who rejected the sale of the LCBO. Even Dalton McGuinty and Dwight Duncan decided not to sell it off, because too much money comes in for vital services,” Tabuns said.

Hudak said the government would not build any more LCBO stores and would consider selling existing stores, including allowing employees to buy the stores. Tabuns criticized that plan.

“Anyone who comes here and says they’re going to reduce the deficit and sell off profit-making activities, is blowing and sucking at the same time.”

Other provinces, such as Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec, already allow private liquor sales.

On Monday, Hudak said that privatizing the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. (OLG) would free up the provincial government to concentrate on other areas.

“I think people would rather see us investing in MRI scans, not buying new roulette wheels,” he said.

Instead, Hudak said, the government should regulate the industry.

Last year, the LCBO made $4.7 billion in sales. The provincial government reaped $1.66 billion in income thanks to Ontarians’ booze purchases.

Nearly $13 billion in LCBO dividends has gone to the province over the past decade.