The Beer Store says Ford’s plan for beer and wine at corner stores would raise prices

The Beer Store is pushing back against the Ford government’s push to sell beer and wine in corner stores.

In a letter to Finance Minister Vic Fedeli, Charlie Angelakos, Chair of The Beer Store’s board says:

“The addition of a significant number of new beer retail outlets would put the viability of The Beer Store’s retail business in question and undermine our efficient, low-cost distribution system. Doing this would result in significantly higher costs and beer prices and put the jobs of The Beer Store’s 7,000 employees at risk.”

The comments appear to signal that the brewers-owned The Beer Store is unwilling to unwind the 10-year master agreement singed under the prior Liberal government in 2015 that prevents the sale of beer and wine in corner stores unless the government pays hefty financial penalties that some reports say could be in the hundreds of millions.

Premier Ford’s so-called booze czar Ken Hughes told 680 NEWS on Tuesday that he could not say how much tax payers may be on the hook for.

“I cant answer that question because we’re having conversations with pretty well everyone in the whole industry.”

He went on to say that, “we have many tools on our toolbox to accomplish our policy goals,” though he did not not provide specifics.

The letter from the Chair of The Beer Store also disputes a report from the Retail Council of Canada that found beer and wine in corner stores would add 9,100 new jobs and add $3.5 billion annually to the Ontario economy.

The Beer Store claims pre-tax prices are higher in provinces that sell beer in corner stores.

“The non-tax portion of beer prices in Ontario is low largely because of the current low-cost Beer Store retail and distribution system,” Angelakos wrote.