Alberta Politics & Government Thread 3.0

[TheIronMaiden]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Compared with alcohol, a bigger share of pot users are heavy users. People who smoke/ingest a lot of cannabis. It’s those heavy users who haven’t switched to the legal market. At the volumes they consume, they can get cheaper (and stronger) weed on the black market. And the fact they’re heavy users means they already had a reliable supplier before legalization.

I agree with the comment upthread that this might work itself out over time as younger users have access to legal pot from the get-go.

It's more than just weight of use, its convenience, if you have a black market supplier who players rec sports or engages in other hobbies then it is a service that a store can't match.

Call me old fashioned, but I'd rather give my friend money than some unknown corporate investor.

[Muta]

Speaking of alcohol, surprisingly an idea I don't hate from Canada's worst political party:

Bell: Danielle Smith backs beer, wine in convenience stores and grocery stores

https://calgarysun.com/opinion/colum...grocery-stores

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith sees what Ontario is doing to liberalize alcohol sales and she's all for doing the same here

This is commonplace in Japan when I'm there, and it's incredibly convenient.

[Ironhorse]

Originally Posted by Muta

Speaking of alcohol, surprisingly an idea I don't hate from Canada's worst political party:

Bell: Danielle Smith backs beer, wine in convenience stores and grocery stores

https://calgarysun.com/opinion/colum...grocery-stores

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith sees what Ontario is doing to liberalize alcohol sales and she's all for doing the same here

This is commonplace in Japan when I'm there, and it's incredibly convenient.

Most of Europe is the same. Canada is pretty uptight and backwards when it comes to these things.

[Harry Lime]

Originally Posted by Muta

Speaking of alcohol, surprisingly an idea I don't hate from Canada's worst political party:

Bell: Danielle Smith backs beer, wine in convenience stores and grocery stores

https://calgarysun.com/opinion/colum...grocery-stores

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith sees what Ontario is doing to liberalize alcohol sales and she's all for doing the same here

This is commonplace in Japan when I'm there, and it's incredibly convenient.

It might also destroy the current industry, where there are not multiple sources of income to offset low prices. Right now, prices are only available cheaply through large chains, with the buying power to lower the cost from suppliers, and work in volume. This might end up closing a lot of corner liquor stores.

[Muta]

Originally Posted by Harry Lime

It might also destroy the current industry, where there are not multiple sources of income to offset low prices. Right now, prices are only available cheaply through large chains, with the buying power to lower the cost from suppliers, and work in volume. This might end up closing a lot of corner liquor stores.

Eh, 'destroy' is quite a strong word here. People specifically looking for certain wines, beers and liquors will still go to liquor stores where the selection and prices are significantly better. Selling alcohol in convenience stores would be primarily for convenience; you're likely not going there for premium selection, just whatever is on the shelf after you pay for gas and other things.

[timun]

I could see a lot of corner liquor stores going TU as a result of such a change, but I would wager there would still be a robust amount of liquor stores. Convenience stores don't have the shelf space for a wide selection, and grocery stores wouldn't want to give up the space to have a wider selection. So yeah, you might lose some of the smaller corner stores because customers looking to pick up a 24 of Canadian will get one from the Save-On while they're shopping for other groceries, but pickier customers who want a particular vintner's Pinot Noir (e.g.; I don't know wines, so maybe this is a silly example) will probably still go to the same liquor store they'd always gone to.


EDIT: Muta beat me to the punch.

I already don't go to my "corner liquor store" because the selection of beers is sparse to begin with and they keep skunky old stock on the shelf. As such I won't be bothered in the slightest if they go belly-up.

[Ozy_Flame]

Did she just copy pasta Doug Ford's announcement two weeks ago? lol

[curves2000]

The independent liquor stores, namely individually owned ones by mom and pop are already dying a slow death here in Alberta. The chain style stores like Olympia, ACE,
Co-Op, Bottle Depot, Wine and Beyond etc are taking a huge amount of market share as they have the financial capital to invest and buy.

Every item that is in someone's liquor store is a bottle that they own and it's difficult to ask a little guy to have sufficient quantities of higher end, expensive scotch and wine etc. That is why you go to a lot of places and see only a few bottles of this and that.

A lot of times when people go to the store down the street, they will pick up the sale items which have smaller margins.

The big chains, corporate owned stores and the grocery chain locations are doing well. There might be significant pushback on a proposal like this. Selling booze in corner stores isn't a bad idea, it's the implementation that sucks here in Canada. Corner stores have enough problems attracting staff, and now they think they are going to get rich selling some bottles of Bud and having their staff go through the required Pro-Serve liquor training?

I am in favor of more relaxed rules in general, but sometimes that opens up a can of worms from a competitions perspective. If 7-11 can sell wine and beer next to bread, eggs, milk etc, then why is (insert every supermarket chain) required to have a separate entrance and staff? Those companies would like to ditch the extra real estate and associated costs and consolidate to the grocery store shelves.

[MoneyGuy]

Have the (numerous) liquor stores gone ballistic yet? I could see them really struggling if this comes about.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Harry Lime

It might also destroy the current industry, where there are not multiple sources of income to offset low prices. Right now, prices are only available cheaply through large chains, with the buying power to lower the cost from suppliers, and work in volume. This might end up closing a lot of corner liquor stores.

My answer to this is always "so what?" It sucks for the owners, but I don't believe public policy should be designed around propping up technologies and business models that are no longer needed/relevant.

[wireframe]

Originally Posted by rubecube

My answer to this is always "so what?" It sucks for the owners, but I don't believe public policy should be designed around propping up technologies and business models that are no longer needed/relevant.

That's basically the founding philosophy of the UCP

[aaronck]

Originally Posted by Muta

Speaking of alcohol, surprisingly an idea I don't hate from Canada's worst political party:

Bell: Danielle Smith backs beer, wine in convenience stores and grocery stores

https://calgarysun.com/opinion/colum...grocery-stores

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith sees what Ontario is doing to liberalize alcohol sales and she's all for doing the same here

This is commonplace in Japan when I'm there, and it's incredibly convenient.

I get it, but I just can't give them credit for fixing something that isn't broken. I'm old and remember standing in line for an hour at the ALCB to buy beer, but since privatization, and especially in the last 15 years, I haven't felt that there was nowhere convenient to buy booze. I think there are 4 liquor stores within walking distance from my house right now.

[Geraldsh]

Originally Posted by aaronck

I get it, but I just can't give them credit for fixing something that isn't broken. I'm old and remember standing in line for an hour at the ALCB to buy beer, but since privatization, and especially in the last 15 years, I haven't felt that there was nowhere convenient to buy booze. I think there are 4 liquor stores within walking distance from my house right now.

That triggered a memory! When I was 16 I would walk in with an old boozer by my side, write out the beer order, hand it to him, he would slide it across the counter along with the cash I just gave him, the beer came across, he would carry it out to the car and off we go. He would be into that case for his share as soon as we started rolling.

[Muta]

Originally Posted by aaronck

I get it, but I just can't give them credit for fixing something that isn't broken. I'm old and remember standing in line for an hour at the ALCB to buy beer, but since privatization, and especially in the last 15 years, I haven't felt that there was nowhere convenient to buy booze. I think there are 4 liquor stores within walking distance from my house right now.

Oh definitely agreed, the system here definitely isn't broken at all; I just don't see it as a big deal is all. If there's beer in the fridge at the convenience store, just seems like another option to me. I'm just of the opinion that is businesses want to do that, they should be allowed to. There's all kinds of daily items already sold at convenience stores for inflated prices that you would only buy out of convenience anyways; adding alcohol to that inventory is just another option for the consumer.

[btimbit]

One change that would make sense, especially on top of that, would be to allow 24hr sales as well

[para transit fellow]

So apparently, The #UCP Cabinet is behind a conspiracy to oust the Chestermere City Council.


From the Calgary Herald:

"Ousted Chestermere mayor claims Alberta government, RCMP colluded against him, dismissed councillors"

'Within days of us being elected, we uncovered a plot where the (Municipal Affairs) minister was looking into how to fire a council,' claims former Chestermere Jeff Colvin."

https://calgaryherald.com/news/polit...rcmp-collusion

(warning: watch the video clip at your own risk - you may hurt yourself from the laughter these accusations induce)

[chedder]

Originally Posted by Muta

Speaking of alcohol, surprisingly an idea I don't hate from Canada's worst political party:

Bell: Danielle Smith backs beer, wine in convenience stores and grocery stores

https://calgarysun.com/opinion/colum...grocery-stores

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith sees what Ontario is doing to liberalize alcohol sales and she's all for doing the same here

This is commonplace in Japan when I'm there, and it's incredibly convenient.

I don't know. It's pretty easy and convenient to go into a liquor store that's on just about every corner. I don't go into a convenience store more than a few times per year.

[BowRiverBruinsRule]

Originally Posted by para transit fellow

So apparently, The #UCP Cabinet is behind a conspiracy to oust the Chestermere City Council.


From the Calgary Herald:

"Ousted Chestermere mayor claims Alberta government, RCMP colluded against him, dismissed councillors"

'Within days of us being elected, we uncovered a plot where the (Municipal Affairs) minister was looking into how to fire a council,' claims former Chestermere Jeff Colvin."

https://calgaryherald.com/news/polit...rcmp-collusion


(warning: watch the video clip at your own risk - you may hurt yourself from the laughter these accusations induce)

This is good stuff. What a joke Alberta is. This is like smallville US of A. Barely a functioning Government. Very scary and they are just getting started.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by BowRiverBruinsRule

This is good stuff. What a joke Alberta is. This is like smallville US of A. Barely a functioning Government. Very scary and they are just getting started.

The first 6 months have not been reassuring, that's for certain.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by aaronck

I get it, but I just can't give them credit for fixing something that isn't broken. I'm old and remember standing in line for an hour at the ALCB to buy beer, but since privatization, and especially in the last 15 years, I haven't felt that there was nowhere convenient to buy booze. I think there are 4 liquor stores within walking distance from my house right now.

Alberta is already far ahead of BC and Ontario. This seems unnecessary, but meh I guess