The National Hockey League might be in the midst of a lock-out which has led to the cancellation of at least the early part of the season, but Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has done his best Sydney Crosby impersonation in trying to stickhandle through changes to the province's liquor laws.
The regulations regarding where and when one could consume alcohol in Saskatchewan was certainly in need of updating, with rules in place which were going out-of-date about the time the aforementioned NHL was still a six-team hockey league.
In terms of competitiveness with businesses in neighbouring provinces in terms of offering alcoholic beverages Saskatchewan was simply in the dark ages, and to the Wall government's credit they have taken a pretty good stab at modernizing things.
Changes which will allow spas and salons to be able to offer champagne to those attending bridal showers, movie theatres will be able to have adult-only areas serving drinks and restaurants will be able to offer 'bring your own wine' service are moves which are long overdue.
It had not made sense that in a city like Yorkton you could go to a Yorkton Terrier Junior hockey game in the winter, or a Western Major Baseball League game in the summer and purchase a beer to enjoy as you watch the game, but we were not afforded the same opportunity when watching a movie.
While some may argue against greater access to liquor on some moral footing, it should ultimately be a case of choice by responsible adults, and the changes move Saskatchewan in that direction.
But before Wall and his government feel too good about their efforts in this regard, there were changes where the government missed the net - badly.
Saskatchewan has long been a hold out among provinces in terms of allowing striptease entertainment in establishments which also offer alcohol sales.
In this area it has meant more than a few carloads of young men heading to Manitoba in something of a right-of-passage trek, taking with them business which was lost locally.
With the announced changes the province will also allow striptease performances and wet clothing contests in adult-only liquor-permitted premises.
But wait, the government decided to ride the fence on this one since full frontal nudity will continue to be prohibited.' The new rules means performers can't strip down past pasties and G-strings.
The amazing thing here is a reason by Crown Investments Corp. Minister Donna Harpauer, who is also responsible for the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority, who has said an avoidance of full nudity should be enough to keep out the organized crime linked to stripping in other jurisdictions.
Who knew a pasty had such power over organized crime.
The government might feel more comfortable with 'pasties' and an interim step to see how the province accepts striptease in bars, but the organized crime excuse is laughable.
And then there is the government's complete retreat on lowering the drinking age from the current 19, to 18, as it is in neighbouring Manitoba, among other Canadian jurisdictions.
The government sent out some feelers regarding making a change then retreated in the face of a vocal opposition. It is not the first time Wall has pulled back on change when he has deemed it a 'hot button' issue, Saskatchewan not moving their clocks to gain daylight in a summer evenings coming to mind.
While there is much rhetoric surrounding what the drinking age should be, moving it to 18 should come down to being a move to instill some fairness in the laws of the land for young people.
On one hand we accept that when a youth turns 18 they have gained a level of common-sense and intelligence whereby they can vote for who will lead their local community, province, and country.
But an 18-year-old who was mature enough to vote for Bob Maloney for Mayor in the recent municipal election is not deemed mature enough to responsibility consume an alcoholic beverage in celebration of his candidate's victory.
The same 18-year-old can join the Canadian Armed Forces, but they can't have a drink with their father in a bar on the night before he ships out for training.
Now if your argument is the voting age and age to join the Armed Forces should be 19, then there is a place to start a debate, but that is not a suggestion heard often so the question is simple; how does the government rationalize the inequity of how they view the maturity of someone 18.
While overall the government did well in modernizing the province's liquor laws, it should have shown the courage to go just a bit further.
