Liquor sell-off poll sobering for gov’t
So as best as anyone can figure out, here is Premier Brad Wall’s position on privatizing liquor:
Wall is “comfortable with the status quo” and will let the public take the lead on whether it wants Saskatchewan’s publicly owned liquor stores to be completely privatized. Judging by the results of a recent Insightrix poll, that doesn’t seem to be the public’s desire right now.
However, his Saskatchewan Party won’t make its “final platform decision exclusively on polling and public opinion” and may try to change the public’s mind through financial analysis that “shows that we can make more money getting out of the retail business” and “use the proceeds of the one-time sale for some important projects or debt retirement.”
Clear as beer? Welcome to Saskatchewan, where, if you are talking privatization, you’d best check out all the exits.
In fairness to Wall, there’s actually little wrong with his position. Governments are elected to follow the wishes of the people, but they are also elected to lead. So if Wall wants to chance his electoral fortunes on private liquor, no one can complain he isn’t giving fair warning. Interestingly, though, the Insightrix poll suggests the people aren’t quite as enthused as Wall might have hoped. The poll showed a surprisingly low 23 per cent in favour of privatizing, as opposed to 34 per cent who want the current public/private mix to remain and 26 per cent who don’t want large-scale private liquor outlets at all.
Maybe the people are already taking the lead by telling Wall this debate isn’t so clear. Consider the evidence:
Certainly from a consumer-choice perspective, private liquor stores are far better. According to the Alberta Liquor and Gaming Commission (ALGC), there are now 2,200 liquor outlets in that province compared with 803 before the 1993 privatization of liquor sales in Alberta. Those private outlets now provide 18,782 different products compared with 1,994 in 1993.
As for pricing, competition should make things better, but — based on the Alberta experience — it may depend more on your alcohol preference. Many have noted that beer and wine prices are already pretty similar in Saskatchewan and Alberta, largely because Alberta moved to a unit tax that is based on volume (and in the case of beer, somewhat on alcohol content). It has produced increased taxes on lower-priced alcohol and a reduction in the retail price of higher-end booze. As a workin’, beer-drinking man, I find this outrageous. But also, as a refined individual sick of paying $95 for a bottle of McAllan’s Scotch that’s $20 to $30 cheaper in Medicine Hat, I welcome our new private liquor-store owner overlords. I am of mixed emotions.
Regardless of what route the Sask. Party might go, private retailers will still have to pay government wholesale prices and we will still pay our hefty sin taxes.
Perhaps of more interest is the reported liquor revenue in Alberta — $729 million in 2012-13 compared with $404.8 million in 1993, says the Sask. Party, pointing to the ALGC comparison. Again, however, the numbers can be a little deceiving.
The NDP notes that Alberta’s population has increased by 42 per cent since 1993, yet per-capita revenue from liquor has dropped by 20 per cent. In fact, the opposition points to a joint Parkland Institute/ Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives study showing Saskatchewan has made more than Alberta, per capita, on liquor revenue since 2009 and that Alberta had the lowest per capita revenue from liquor sales in the West even though it has the highest per-capita consumption.
Finally, maybe there’s little reason to believe NDP leader Cam Broten’s conspiracy theories that by making pricing, hours of operation, etc. less attractive in public liquor stores, the Sask. Party is trying to create a false argument for privatization. Maybe private stores can be run better than government stores. The new Federated Co-op in Saskatoon sure seems to be making that case.
But it raises this issue: Why can’t we attempt to make public stores more competitive and consumer friendly in pricing? Shouldn’t the current mix between public and private stores be incentive enough for the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority to abandon its long-held puritanical approach?
Wall’s total privatization of liquor retail may not be a done deal yet.