Pilot Project Will See MLCC Kiosks in Grocery Stores
May 19, 2011
kiosk, liquor, pilot, project, resolution, wine
The Government of Manitoba has just unveiled a new hospitality strategy aimed at modernizing liquor laws, reducing red tape, balancing safety enhancements, and introducing new initiatives to curb underage drinking.
As part of its efforts at updating the Liquor Control Act, the government has committed to a pilot project which would see up to 10 limited-selection MLCC Liquor Mart boutiques – up to five of which would be located within grocery stores. The idea is that these would be placed in stores where there isn’t an MLCC outlet nearby.
As with any proposed changes to the liquor control system, the introduction of kiosks at grocery stores needs to be monitored closely. While the public has clearly indicated that it would like to see more choice and convenience with regard to purchasing liquor, this needs to be balanced with controls to ensure that it is done in a careful manner.
The primary concern must be public safety and wellbeing. This is something that remains paramount in a public system. Alcohol is no ordinary commodity and should not be sold as one. As mentioned in a recent Mothers Against Drunk Driving report (Provincial Liquor Boards: Meeting the Best Interests of Canadians), it is linked with more than 65 medical conditions and is a contributing factor in injuries, impairments and deaths caused by illness, impaired driving, homicides, suicides, falls, drowning, assaults, fires and other adverse events that threaten public safety and community well-being. It’s estimated that alcohol resulted in the deaths of over 4,000 Canadians in 2002 and cost society in excess of $14 billion in lost productivity and health care and law enforcement costs.
MADD makes it abundantly clear in this report that the privatization of liquor sales in some Canadian provinces has been an abject failure. They argue that replacing the provincial liquor board system with a privatized system of retail alcohol sales would only serve to increase alcohol-related –problems and would carry substantial human, social and economic costs.
And for this reason it’s important that these MLCC kiosks will be staffed with the same qualified, trained personnel that work at other Liquor Mart locations across Manitoba.
It’s good when the government recognizes the wishes of the public and makes amendments to existing laws and regulations in that vein. But it’s important that public safety and well-being remain the primary considerations in this pilot project.
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