Free My Booze

That was always the plan. Next they'll move liquor to private stores and get rid of the LCBO too.

The Beer Store had a near-monopoly on beer sales in Ontario for 98 years. 98 years of name recognition & infrastructure. 450 stores, and the government gave them $225 million last year to help them transition. Despite these advantages, they can't make their business model work.

My piece on the LCBO and its ugly history of racism, sexism, and paternalism. I focus primarily on the way Indigenous Ontarians were treated up until 1959 and beyond. There's more in the @ConsumerChoiceC 's Modernize Ontario project. thespec.com/opinion/contri…

Here's a clip of me talking with the wonderful @nazlicankanmaz about the LCBO's patronizing and dark past with Indigenous Ontarians. This article and interview were really important to me personally, I am glad to talk about it for the @ConsumerChoiceC. Full video on YouTube.

If you're interested in alcohol reform as an issue and you're not following @sabinechidiac and the @ConsumerChoiceC - you're missing out. Absolutely top-notch content coming out of them recently on the LCBO and it's history.

Speaks to the popularity of Ford's alcohol reforms that @LCBO employees / @OPSEU completely surrendered just days after claiming the sky was falling.

The LCBO union basically said, "We're going to keep striking unless you abandon your plans to sell coolers in grocery stores in September" The government has responded with "Fine, we'll start selling them Thursday." Shows a willingness to fight that I didn't expect. Love it.

Immediately

Should Doug Ford privatize the LCBO?

100% Yes. Ideally it's broken up into ~10 pieces with each auctioned off, and nobody is allowed to buy more than 2 parts.

Hear me out - Maybe if the government *wasn't in the business of selling alcohol* than you wouldn't get the Premier filming videos about it.

For all the folks screaming, "WHY DID FORD FILM A VIDEO ABOUT WHERE TO BUY ALCOHOL, WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH THE OPERATION OF GOVERNMENT!?!" Well... because Ontario is stuck in the 1930's, selling alcohol to people is literally the government's business.

LCBO is on strike, and Ontarians are about to realize just how unnecessary it is. Time to #FreeMyBooze once and for all.

The LCBO might go on strike. Fun fact. If Ontario abolished the LCBO and let private retailers fill the void, taxpayers would save $559 million/year. If we just stopped building new LCBOs and let private stores open up, taxpayers would save $323 million over 10 years financialpost.com/opinion/david-…

My friend @GrantADDingwall is very modest about his role in this, but here's the truth: His grassroots campaign, @FreeMyBooze, is the primary reason why we've had massive alcohol liberalization in Ontario. All the lobbyists in the world couldn't change the minds of past governments. Grant organized delegates at PC conventions. He rallied people to write letters to PC organizers and staff. He did the hard work of changing PC Party policy at the grassroots level. As a direct result, Doug Ford made a pledge in the 2018 PC leadership campaign to get it done. 6 years later, it's finally happening, as we close in on the end of Kathleen Wynne's boondoggle monopoly deal with The Beer Store. This is one of the best examples of one person having an incredible impact on public policy from outside government. Passionate people can get things done when they have the right skills and tools. Grant Dingwall got it done. Extremely proud of him and grateful to @fordnation for finally making this happen.

@fordnation Thanks Premier!

Tune in for a major announcement on how we are giving Ontario consumers more choice and more convenience when it comes to buying beer, wine and other alcoholic drinks. youtube.com/live/zcS3KSOp5…

So, in short, thanks @fordnation for keeping your promise and following through on the conversation we had during your leadership campaign. Grassroots advocacy works!

News this morning that starting THIS FALL we will have an alcohol retail system that resembles the rest of the world. cbc.ca/news/canada/to…

As someone who has personally invested a lot of time, energy, and personal funds to trying to convince this government to sell the @LCBO as part of my @FreeMyBooze campaign. They have no interest in selling the LCBO. They will not sell the LCBO. @OPSEU is making this up.

Always willing to chat about @FreeMyBooze.