It's better that we have government-run liquor, beer, and cannabis distribution. Definitely pays for a lot of our "free" healthcare, for one. As far as retail jobs go, the unionized LCBO workers have got it pretty good, mind you it's got to be difficult to deal with intoxicated clientele and all the thieves. I support them. Probably the biggest negative impact outside of the government revenues will be that on restaurants and bars. Think of how many of these places there must be in Ontario. Note - if the strike lasts til July 19, a handful of stores will open Fri-Sun on limited hours. That's not going to help much, but also, the home delivery options from their website will still be available, apparently. I wonder if some restaurant and bar owners are going to start getting boxes upon boxes of liquor delivered to their homes over the summer as a workaround.
They are calling it "Ford's dry summer." I was surprised to learn that fully 70% of the LCBO's workforce is "part-time."
You'd need an armored tank division to guard the stockpiles if you tried that in the US. But everything is privatized here. Literally everything.
Hmm, does the LCBO also ensure the purity of alcoholic drinks, and cracks down on adulteration?* If so, the LCBO going on strike would be a serious thing indeed for Ontario. Those of us with long memories, or even access to wikipedia, will know what happened during Prohibition! Sure, lots of horrible things happened back then, but I'm referring to the fact that lots of people resorted to making their own liquour in the bathtub, which -- needless to say -- sometimes contained horrendous and unintended (or maybe intended?) ingredients. Imagine a toenail being pickled gently in your martini cocktail. I rest my case, m'lud. ___________________________ * By the way, the word 'adulteration' doesn't mean those fun things some people may think it means. Get your mind out of the gutter! ============================ They said the same about smoking in the mid-80s, but then there was the counter-argument: that we make £4 billion a year and we can't afford to ban smoking ... ... and furthermore, the taxes and the cost of cigarettes suffered by smokers contributes directly to the Ministry of Health, which helps people quit smoking. So, if you look at it really, really cockeyed, you will see that some smokers voluntarily lay down their lives for the benefit of the fellow citizens! In fact, you may go even further and claim that smokers are national benefactors!!! (Yes, thank you, Sir Humphrey...) As for alcohol ... well, it's the most easily accessible legal drug. But perhaps it shouldn't be, given that alcohol abuse is the source of so many problems: drink-driving, spousal abuse, and the cause of many illnesses like cirrhosis of the liver. (Not to mention that if you go to a sporting event and someone is violent and abusive and obnoxious -- is he drunk, or is he smoking pot? Drunk, of course. Starting a fight while high on pot is impossible. "I know I'm supposed to hate you but I don't know why. Ah, forget it." Yes, thank you, the legendary Bill Hicks...)
The LCBO doesn't make the alcohol, they distribute it - and all major brands are available - domestic and foreign
OK. So with the LCBO on strike, that means no-one gets liquor at all. Sounds serious. "No liquor for you!" Just wondering: who does crack down on adulteration, if / when it happens?
You can still get beer and wine, and you can still order liquor online. So I'm not sure how much of a punch this strike will have. Mostly it will affect people who like to buy their liquor in person. I don't think this is a problem. How would it even happen?
I'm not sure, which is why I said "if". It's been happening for most of history, and not just in the distant past. In September 2018, we here in Australia experienced a food adulteration crisis, where someone inserted sewing needles into strawberries and other fruit. (I eat lots of strawberries, so I remember this very well). So if such a thing happens, it's good to know that someone is watching out for it.
That sort of thing is a police matter, it’s not really adulteration so much as sabotage adulteration of expensive spirits with cheap ones is normally a trading standards issue although it can also be for customs if they are being brought in across the border
https://www.cnn.com/travel/providence-rhode-island-best-towns-america Providence, where I live, is the 2nd best city in the US to visit, according to CNN.
I guess Canadians are sometimes weird. But it's better than being batshit crazy like many of your neighbors to the immediate south,
And is is true that all Canadian booze is Maple flavored? (Flavoured, sorry). I know that isn't true, because I'be been known to drink a little Canadian Mist now and then, and it doesn't taste like delicious maple syrup. Though that might be nice actually.
Well, I did a quick search on the LCBO website for Vodkas (using a Toronto location). Here's the results: Regular (unflavoured) Vodka - 42 results: Canada (21), Poland (5), France (3), United States (3), Sweden (2), Finland (2), Latvia (2), Netherlands (2), United Kingdom (1), Ukraine (1) Flavoured Vodka - 28 results: Canada (8), France (8), Sweden (5), United States (3), Italy (1), Netherlands (1), Poland (1) So, at least for vodka, mostly from Canada. I usually buy Smirnoff (Canadian), but they were out of it Friday when I went (stock depleted because of strike) so I got Banff instead.
It's a different story for tequilas. Of 159 results: Mexico (153), United States (3), Chile (2), Italy (1)
Of the whiskies available in Ontario - United Kingdom (392), Canada (211), United States (158), Ireland (64), Japan (40), Taiwan (4), India (3), Denmark (1), Israel (1)
Me neither. This bold newcomer surprised everyone last year by winning the World's Best Whiskey award in the UK. Sure, Scotland is synonymous with whiskey, and has been for over 100 years. But it's not the only country making it, obviously. Having said that, I don't drink whiskey, so fine, I wouldn't be the best judge. But I'm willing to try something new for a change.
I phrased it wrong, should have asked foreign vs domestic. The whiskey PMIX answers that... you have way more UK whiskeys than we do, proportionately.
Doing some writing. I restricted/blocked/unsubscribed from news sources across social media. Honestly, while I'm not trying to bury my head in the sand and pretend everything is okie dokie and we're all singing kumbayah along the Amazon River, I also want to try to protect my emotional and mental health by not being inundated by it 24/7. Yeah, you will not be dethroning us for a looooong time. We Yanks have redefined the word 'batshit crazy'.
