Ontario Microbrewers want their own stores [General]

2012 Aug 11
It is about time a microbrewer stood up and said this, and I hope it gets followed by a wave of support from other micros and from the public in general.

I'm going to write my MPP right now to let him know I support this.

www.ottawacitizen.com

2012 Aug 11
About time? Ontario brewers have been saying this for ages. Puts the government in a very awkward position given wine's special status and the fact that this was the BS's original purpose. Well awkward if anyone was paying attention. As it is politicians just have to mumble something about social responsibility and everyone forgets about it for another year.

2012 Aug 11
Write your MPP - I wrote mine

Hi there,

I just wanted to voice my support for letting Ontario Micro Brewers open their own retail stores the same way that the foreign owned Beer Store owners can do. The paternalism we repeatedly hear from Premier McGuinty on this matter is unacceptable. The Beer Store was originally founded to do what it no longer does - it used to be a cooperative of Ontario brewers while today it is almost 100% owned by foreign transnational companies and no longer serves the interests of Ontario's brewers.

Please listen to the call from Paul Meek - I support him completely.

www.ottawacitizen.com

As my MPP I emplore you to break with the party line and speak out in favour of Mr Meek


2012 Aug 11
From this article - I'd like to see a return to the original goal and let craft brewers form their own cooperative stores just like the original Beer Stores

www.thestar.com

"In 1927, at the close of Prohibition, Brewers Warehousing Co. Ltd. was founded as a brewers' co-operative.

The provincial government retained control of the sale of wine and spirits through the LCBO, but beer, with its lower alcohol content, could be distributed by the hundreds of mom-and-pop breweries.

Initially, the brewers were involved only in wholesale operations, jointly warehousing and distributing their product to stores operated by private contractors.

But in 1940, the brewers bought out the contractors and took over the stores, changing their name to Brewers Retail Inc. The stores were later renamed The Beer Store.

Along the way, Canada's beer industry changed dramatically. Governments signed trade agreements in the 1990s that removed barriers to beer sales between provinces and countries. The Beer Store began selling imported beer, which the LCBO had carried for years. For a while, competition increased.

Successive waves of consolidation – in the 1950s and 1960s, then again in the 1990s – saw ownership of the beer industry shrink to the current handful of multinationals.

The Beer Store ended up in the hands of some of the world's largest brewers. Government oversight dwindled to a handful of regulations related to public safety."