There's no satisfying some people

In 1993, when Alberta privatized liquor stores, the labour unions complained that prices would increase and selection would get worse. Twelve years later, the labour unions are complaining that prices have decreased and selection has gotten better:

As the Ontario government considers a major liberalization of its liquor policies, including possibly ending its monopoly on booze sales, eyes have turned to Alberta, where liquor sales were privatized in the early 1990s.

In the ensuing decade, there are two unarguable facts: the number of liquor stores in the province has more than tripled and brand selection has increased exponentially.

Everything else, including the social effects and benefits to consumers and the province alike, seems still open to heated debate.

"Alberta can clearly demonstrate - with over 12 years of experience - better pricing, better selection, better convenience, and I think the over-arching element that always puzzles everyone is that you also get better service," says John Szumas, who leads the Alberta Liquor Store Association lobby group.
[...]
Greg Flanagan, assistant dean of the University of Lethbridge's Faculty of Management at the University of Lethbridge, says a detailed study is needed to also look at the social effects of privatization.

"We can only surmise that higher price equals lower consumption, lower consumption equals less problems," said Flanagan, who wrote a critical report on liquor privatization for the Parkland Institute and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

"And so the whole point of taxing liquor - because it's cheap to make - is to keep it artifically scarce by the tax and thereby having less people using it."

Posted by damian at January 30, 2005 09:49 PM