VICTORIA B次元官网网址� When the B.C. government announced its latest changes to liquor distribution, the reaction was not what I expected.
Private store representatives complained bitterly that the government is allowing further expansion of fridges and B次元官网网址渃old roomsB次元官网网址� in selected government liquor stores, and longer operating hours that include more Sunday openings. Those hours, along with non-union staff, are the private storesB次元官网网址� big advantages as things stand in B.C.B次元官网网址檚 hybrid liquor retailing system.
The B.C. Government EmployeesB次元官网网址� Union didnB次元官网网址檛 seem at all perturbed that state-run storesB次元官网网址� key advantage was also going to be gone effective April 1. That would be preferential wholesale pricing, in which the governmentB次元官网网址檚 monopoly wholesaler sells to them at cost and to private stores at higher rates.
How much higher? Liquor Distribution Branch officials were carefully vague on that, and it varies depending on which of the 22 wholesale categories you look at. They released a graph that suggests the average wholesale cost to government stores might be going up 10 to 15 per cent to create a B次元官网网址渓evel playing fieldB次元官网网址� with private stores.
That is the main reason private stores have generally higher retail prices. And the majority of the provinceB次元官网网址檚 revenue of nearly $1 billion a year comes from this monopoly wholesale business, where the hidden tax is coyly termed a B次元官网网址渕ark-up.B次元官网网址�
When the new, simplified system comes in next spring, a bottle of hard liquor will have a B次元官网网址渕ark-upB次元官网网址� of 124 per cent. ThatB次元官网网址檚 right, LDB more than doubles the price with its wholesale liquor tax. And if itB次元官网网址檚 premium booze, anything valued at more than $21 a litre will get an extra luxury tax on top of that.
Coolers and ciders will see a 73 per cent mark-up. Wines are taxed at 89 per cent, with extra luxury tax on premium wines. Beer gets a per-litre tax with ascending rates for small, medium and large breweries. Then of course there is federal and provincial sales tax applied to all of it. Cheers!
Premier Christy Clark acknowledged that the first guiding principle of this overhaul is to keep that government revenue coming.
The new BCGEU president, Stephanie Smith, doesnB次元官网网址檛 sound like your bullhorn-toting socialist of yore. She insists sheB次元官网网址檚 gung-ho to compete head to head with those private interlopers and get back some lost market share, particularly on the high-volume cold beer sales.
The union has another ace in the hole. Its current contract stipulates that LDB canB次元官网网址檛 close stores. In some small towns there are government stores that lose money, particularly since theyB次元官网网址檝e had more private competition. But at least for the duration of this BCGEU contract, the government retail arm will continue to operate in some places as a perverse social program, subsidizing retail clerk jobs that pay nearly twice what private retail pays.
And letB次元官网网址檚 face it, running a till at a liquor store is not rocket surgery. Private and government store staff have to take the same training, and liquor inspector sting operations have increased vigilance on ID checks in all stores.
With higher wholesale prices applied to government stores, this kind of artificial support will cost more. The only way LDB could maintain it without subsidizing it from the wholesale windfall would be to raise retail prices.
The LDB says this new simplified system is B次元官网网址渘ot intended to impact consumer pricing.B次元官网网址� Note the careful choice of words.
Oh, one last thing. There is another new tax in the works. It will be applied to higher-alcohol beverages, in an effort to reduce adverse health effects.
Tom Fletcher is legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press.
Twitter: @tomfletcherbc
