Ont. welcomes ‘buck a beer’

BEER AND WINE IN CORNER STORES STILL A WHILE AWAY

Buck a beer went into effect in Ontario on Monday, fulfilling one of Doug Ford’s promises from the spring election campaign, but his government said it would be a while before it acted on a pledge to make beer and wine available in corner stores across the province.

Ford’s finance minister said the Tory government was busy focusing on other matters, but promised that the corner-store promise was still on the agenda.

“We really are looking at the lowering of hydro rates and the cutting of corporate taxes and the cutting of personal taxes,” Vic Fedeli said at a brewery where Ford marked buck a beer coming into effect. “The beer and wine in corner stores will be at a corner store near you in the future.”

Meanwhile, the buck-a-beer policy announced earlier this month lowers the minimum price of a bottle or can of beer to $1 from $1.25. Brewers are not required to charge less and the minimum price doesn’t apply to draft beer, nor does it include the bottle deposit.

The move has drawn criticism from many craft brewers, who said they can’t afford to lower their prices without sacrificing the quality of their product. Ford, however, defended the policy. “For a craft brewery to say that, it’s his opinion,” the premier said. “The people who are buying buck a beer are as happy as punch.”

Ford acknowledged that not all craft brewers have the capacity to produce beer they can sell for $1, and praised the handful of companies who have so far said they are implementing the new minimum price.

Cool Beer Brewery, which Ford visited Monday, and Barley Days Brewery in Picton, Ont., have said they will offer lower-priced beer, while Loblaws has said its President’s Choice brew will be available for a dollar a bottle for a limited time.