Alcohol dangers

I found some of the debate about the privatization of government liquor stores irresponsible and reprehensible.

As the mayor of Prince Albert has pointed out — and as many examples throughout history have shown us — alcohol has created all kinds of social problems for society. Expanding retail hours and making it more readily available only increases those problems.

It doesn’t help when we are bombarded by commentators telling us that the government doesn’t belong in the retailing business and that we need to better serve the needs of consumers by having longer hours and more outlets.

Don’t these commentators realize that what they are really saying is that we need to increase private profits on the backs of the social misery of the victims of alcoholism?

We are also told that there were public consultations, and by implication, that such weighty support for the government’s position should not be denied.

Well, it turns out that only 6,000 people responded or 0.6 per cent of our population. What a really impressive groundswell that was.

At the same time, we are told that only 20,000 signatures were on a union petition against privatization and since it represents only a small portion of our population, we can safely dismiss this clamour from the left.

When one considers how strictly cigarettes are now controlled for the public good (compared to the cultural acceptance of smoking that used to exist), isn’t Wall’s privatization taking our public alcohol policy in the wrong direction? Tom Shelstad, Swift Current