The LCBO has announced that “as a convenience to Ontario consumers and visitors, approximately 350 LCBO stores across the province will be open for the civic holiday on August 4.” The language of the implies that the LCBO is doing us a favor for which we should be thankful.
We think it might be best to reword the announcement thus: “As an inconvenience to Ontario consumers and visitors, we will close 250 of our 601 retail stores, or 42% of our entire chain, in order to make it harder for irresponsible Ontarian drinkers to buy alcohol.” If you read things this way, you realize that the LCBO is doing us no favours.
The silliness of the current system is that 42% of stores are shut down on a warm summer holiday, the very point in time in which alcohol demand is highest. In a free system without the LCBO, storeowners would make an effort to be open in order to meet the demands of holidaying consumers. Instead, we are forced to stockpile alcohol in anticipation of LCBO closings. How long before Ontarians see how silly the LCBO is?
