Convenience Stores Forced to Admit Beer Prices Wouldn't Go Down

TORONTO, Feb. 10, 2014 /CNW/ - Ontario convenience stores have been promising that selling beer, wine, and liquor in corner stores and gas stations will mean lower prices for consumers.

Now they've flip-flopped.

Confronted with evidence that prices would actually spike if beer were sold in private retail stores, they were forced to admit that prices wouldn't go down after all:

"The Ontario Convenience Stores Association has never advocated that we were going to offer cheap beer to anybody." 
- Dave Bryans, President and CEO, Ontario Convenience Stores Association (Toronto Sun, February 10, 2014)

Convenience store lobbyists want you to believe that selling beer, wine, and liquor in convenience stores will lead to lower prices.  That's why they've been tossing around words like "competition" and "modernization," knowing that consumers will think that means lower prices.

The fact is, Ontario's beer prices are already among the lowest in Canada. Only Quebec prices are lower, but that's just because they have significantly lower beer taxes. 

Consumers in other provinces have learned this lesson the hard way. B.C.'s private liquor store prices are actually 45-51% higher than Ontario's, while Alberta's are 30-36% higher. The Consumers Association of Canada has found that B.C. consumers have actually been forced to pay millions more thanks to privatization.

To get the facts on beer prices, visit www.ontariobeerfacts.ca.

SOURCE: The Beer Store

Jay Armitage, Office 416-645-8174 / Cell 416-275-6698, Email [email protected]