02-06-2018, 09:13 AM
LCBO retail pricing per se is not set in order to promote any specific level of consumption (though one of the stated goals of the retailer is to promote “moderate consumption”). But there are minimum prices that all retailers must abide by, and significant “sin taxes” on alcohol.
The whole purpose of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario is to control alcohol, and try to prevent excessive consumption. Its origins are firmly rooted in the significant temperance movement in Ontario, and our former prohibition regime. I’m not old enough to remember the time before it retooled itself to more resemble a normal retailer, but others I know tell me about when the LCBO issued individual permits, individuals’ purchases were recorded by clerks, and consumers could be restricted explicitly from buying alcohol in any quantity.
It’s different now, obviously, but it’s pretty obvious one of the goals of the monopoly is still to discourage excessive consumption and promote moderate consumption (whatever that might mean).
The whole purpose of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario is to control alcohol, and try to prevent excessive consumption. Its origins are firmly rooted in the significant temperance movement in Ontario, and our former prohibition regime. I’m not old enough to remember the time before it retooled itself to more resemble a normal retailer, but others I know tell me about when the LCBO issued individual permits, individuals’ purchases were recorded by clerks, and consumers could be restricted explicitly from buying alcohol in any quantity.
It’s different now, obviously, but it’s pretty obvious one of the goals of the monopoly is still to discourage excessive consumption and promote moderate consumption (whatever that might mean).