Regina wine store uncorks privatization debate
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 3, 2009 | 9:38 PM CT
CBC News
The shelves of a new wine store in Regina are stocked with a varied selection. (CBC)The official opening Tuesday of Saskatchewan's second privately owned wine store is attracting attention from supporters and critics of an expanded role for entrepreneurs in the sale of booze.
Some of the first customers welcomed the new store, located in a strip mall just south of the ground of the provincial legislature.
"The same, the same, the same," Al Fitzpatrick lamented to CBC News about the selection of wine at government liquor stores. "There were wines of course, but there wasn't much of a variety."
The new Regina store, in contrast, boasts 1,000 wines and claims that most of its inventory cannot be found anywhere else in the province.
"Things have changed in the province of Saskatchewan. We're growing. We're becoming more global," Christine Tell, the minister responsible for the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority, said at the grand opening ceremonies.
Tell pointed out that even though the new wine store is run by a private entrepreneur, the seller remains a franchisee and is regulated by, and exclusively supplied by, the government.
Despite that arrangement, the union representing Saskatchewan liquor store employees remains worried about opening the liquor cabinet to private sellers.
Bob Bymoen, president of the Saskatchewan Government and General Employees' Union, told CBC News the province is likely to see more alcohol-related social problems because profit will drive workers to be less careful about sales.
"If a private business doesn't sell enough. alcohol, if that's what their retail is, then they're not going to stay in business," Bymoen said.
