Friday, May 01, 2009

B.C. NDP: All Your Beers Are Ours

NDP leader Carole James has promised to increase the minimum wage by 25 per cent -- freaking out pub and restaurant owners -- and hike wholesale prices for private liquor stores.

[...]

But private liquor store owner Al Arbuthnot thinks that's the whole point of the NDP strategy.
Kim Haakstad, executive director of the Alliance of Beverage Licensees of B.C] pointed out the NDP election platform makes no mention of increasing prices in unionized government liquor stores. "If they need to raise revenue from liquor, then they should raise prices across the board for everyone, not just pick on small, independent operators."

"This is all union-driven," said the owner of Fox's Reach pub and liquor store in Maple Ridge.Something tells me if the NDP wins, they'll be uncorking the champagne at the B.C. Government and Service Employees Union head office -- no matter what the price.

I would dismiss this as fear mongering but for the fact that Bob Rae, when he was Ontario Premier, almost destroyed the "you brew" industry with a series of damaging tax hikes aimed at taking the pressure off LCBOs.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

truth.

To make it worse, she's now saying consumer's won't see a price hike because the private stores will "absorb the cost increase".

Proving she's ready for prime time

The Mound of Sound said...

Yes, brilliant. To all the province's unemployed and soon to be unemployed - increase liquor taxes. This woman is insufferable.

The Red Fox said...

Didn't dick nanny mCguinty guy who runs Ontariariooo just set minimum beer prices and raise the minimum wage??Dippers bad ,Chevy libs good.LOL.

lance said...

Much as we disagree BCL, you're last paragraph was too accurate. In 93 I lived in Ottawa and was a home-brewer as well as a U-Brewer.

I can tell you first hand that the supply chain for quality goods dried right up. Couldn't get good hops, good malt, good anything, no one could compete.

Nothing but crap kits and a shrug. At about that point I'd had enough of Mr Rae.

Cheers,
lance

Gene Rayburn said...

The Red Fox just proved why there should be a baseline for grammatic competence with their post.