聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Alcohol causes people to not think clearly鈥� even when it comes to the retailing of the product.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Take the ongoing battle of Premier Brad Wall鈥檚 government to privatize the retail aspect of alcohol sales in Saskatchewan.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 To some extent, one gets the irrationality of those who have a stake in good-paying, unionized jobs in public retail liquor stores.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But it鈥檚 also about here where it seems that liquor sales have a bad effect on otherwise clear-thinking individuals.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 After all, there is nothing magical about selling liquor compared with any other commodity鈥� other than the fact that it is likely significantly easier to sell than most other products.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 What鈥檚 failed miserably here in Saskatchewan and in other jurisdictions where the liquor employee unions have tried it is the notion that only 鈥減ublic sector鈥� liquor retailers can safeguard against underage purchasing of alcohol.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Seriously? Public liquor retailers have prevented older brothers and older friends from pulling for their friends? Liquor vendors or private store owners would not be afraid of losing their lucrative licenses by supplying liquors to minors? Bar and restaurant owners in Saskatchewan haven鈥檛 already proven private retailers are rather diligent about ensuring only appropriate-aged customers are served alcohol?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Of course, there are other concerns about privatization of liquor, not the least of which would be the concerns of friends of government getting preferential treatment when it comes to getting liquor store franchises.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 As stated earlier, the nature of liquor sales doesn鈥檛 necessarily always bring out the best wisdom.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 And that applies equally to the government鈥檚 view of alcohol retailing, especially when it鈥檚 mixed with a healthy dose of politics.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Recently, Premier Brad Wall鈥檚 government has taken great umbrage at the Alberta NDP government, imposing a $1.25 a litre tax on beer.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Now, if you are a west side rural Saskatchewan hotel beer vendor or a vendor of other liquor, you might very well be wondering why this is an issue at all.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 All Saskatchewan retailers have been hammered by the absence of a provincial sales tax to the west of us (Alberta has not had a provincial sales tax since 1937).
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But if you are a west side retailer of booze, it鈥檚 a double hit, because of the way the two provinces have always taxed liquor.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In Saskatchewan, there is an 鈥渁d valorem鈥� taxation policy, meaning taxes are levied on the value of the product.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 By contrast, Alberta has always levelled a flat per-bottle duty, meaning that an expensive bottle of rye and scotch would generally be cheaper.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Because of this, beer has generally been slightly cheaper in Saskatchewan than Alberta, even more before the recent change by imposed by Premier Rachel Notley鈥檚 government.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The issue for the Saskatchewan Party government is that Saskatchewan beers like Great Western and the craft beer industry would be subject to this new $1.25 per-litre change in Alberta. Similar Alberta based breweries, however, would continue to enjoy the advantage of Alberta government subsidies.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 "Alberta's new beer pricing and grant policy are a trade issue that could hurt producers and consumers in both provinces," said Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) Minister Don聽McMorris in a prepared statement.聽
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 McMorris raised the issue with Notley and Wall at the annual premiers鈥� meeting.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The question is why this is the Saskatchewan government鈥檚 concern.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 How much Albertans pay for their beer shouldn鈥檛 be McMorris鈥檚 concern.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Nor is it really Saskatchewan鈥檚 concern whether Alberta taxpayers are subsidizing their local brewers.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Sure, governments need to look after businesses in their own jurisdictions.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But that鈥檚 a dangerous game for a Saskatchewan Party government that claims it has no interest in picking winners or losers.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 After all, can you subsidize breweries and not the film industry through tax employment credits?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Liquor sure impacts how governments think. 聽聽
