Ongoing LCBO strike a strain on Ontario wedding venues during peak season

Wedding venues in Ontario are hoping their alcohol stocks don’t run dry as a strike by the province’s liquor store workers enters its second week.

It’s peak season for the venues that host weddings and other summer gatherings, with plenty of champagne toasts, signature cocktails and specific requests from brides and grooms.

But with the Liquor Control Board of Ontario shutting all its stores across the province for two weeks after workers went on strike last Friday, venues have had to do some careful calculations while assessing their alcohol supplies.

Online ordering from the LCBO is available for smaller orders, and alcohol is available at some other outlets such as certain grocery stores and wineries, but venues say their typical purchasing options have diminished significantly.

Farmhill Weddings in Peterborough, Ont., stocked up before the strike but owner Jenn Austin-Driver said those supplies will dwindle as the venue hosts weddings every weekend, in addition to a weekly summer concert series.

“I’ve got a container full of alcohol and I’m just hoping that that’s enough,” Austin-Driver said in a phone interview.

The alcohol needs of a wedding differ from a bar or restaurant, which can predict more reliably how much and what kind of drinks they might go through on a given night, said Austin-Driver.

“There’s such a fluctuation in our guest count and what their drink of choice is, so it is challenging to predict, weekend-to-weekend, what we’re going to go through,” she said.

In the event that her alcohol stocks dry up, Austin-Driver said she’ll lean on friends in the industry for help.

“We’re hoping that we can call upon them if someone’s wedding is depending on a gin and tonic, you know?”

If the strike continues past next week, the LCBO has said it plans to open 32 locations three days a week with limited hours. It has not said where those locations will be.

Kaitlyn Pipe, the manager at Brussels Four Winds, said her rural event venue will need to replenish its alcohol stocks after about two weeks, as it has to host two more weddings before the end of July.

“By the end of the month, I think we’re going to need more alcohol,” she said, adding that Brussels, a rural community northwest of Kitchener, Ont., doesn’t have as many options to purchase alcohol as larger urban communities do.

In the community of Hammond, Ont., east of Ottawa, Mallity Estate spent a significant amount of funds to bolster its alcohol supplies before the strike began.

Even so, venue staff have been scrambling to find what they need in grocery stores to meet clients’ specific requests.

“They only put 94 products in there (for LCBO online orders) that we had access to in the wholesale,” said owner Lexine Menard.

“So hopefully when they open the stores on the 19th, we’re going to be one of those that maybe camp outside to get in and get what we need.”

The union representing liquor store workers has said the government’s move to open up the alcohol market in the province is a key sticking point for them – a position they’ve now doubled down on, while still leaving some room for negotiation.

At issue is Premier Doug Ford’s plan to allow ready-to-drink cocktails to be sold outside LCBO stores. The Ontario Public Service Employees Union said it does not want those types of drinks – among the fastest growing market – sold outside LCBO stores as they believe it will eventually lead to job losses due to lost revenue.

“To us, seeing those products go into 8,500 new private retail locations (like gas stations and convenience chains) means less hours of work, fewer jobs, and lower public revenues,” said Colleen MacLeod, chair of the union’s LCBO bargaining unit.

Ford said earlier this week that ready-to-drink cocktails will be sold in convenience and grocery stores and the matter is a non-starter for negotiations.

The LCBO then said it was seeking clarity on the union’s position about ready-to-drink cocktails.

“If OPSEU is now prepared to agree that ready-to-drink beverages are a matter of public policy and not something that should be discussed as part of bargaining, we strongly encourage them to respond to our July 4 offer,” the LCBO wrote in a statement.

The union took issue with the LCBO’s position.

“The employer does not get to unilaterally decide what is discussed at the table – that’s why it’s called bargaining,” MacLeod said. “We’re willing to return to the table at any moment – and for us, nothing is off the table.”

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario said that under the government’s alcohol expansion plans, it has issued licences for alcohol sales to 3,105 convenience stores and 37 new grocery stores. Newly licensed convenience stories can start selling alcohol in early September while newly licensed grocery stories can do so from Oct. 31 onward.