The LCBO's dirty little secret: Why Ontario's liquor monopoly discriminates against Ontario wines

The heated tariff tiff continues between the U.S. and Canada, and, by way of retaliation, many provincial liquor boards have removed U.S. products from store shelves. If you're hoping to purchase a Kentucky bourbon or a California chardonnay, you're likely out of luck.

But there's an interesting sidebar when it comes to the booze battleground. It's this: Ontario Premier Doug Ford likes to reimagine himself as Captain Canuck these days. Given those impending U.S. tariffs, he's going to war to protect made-in-Canada goods. And when it comes to alcohol, he's using the leverage of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario to make things tough for U.S. manufacturers of beer, wine, and spirits. So then, how is it that this same crown corporation openly discriminates against Ontario wine?

Foreign wines receive the lion's share of shelf space at LCBO stores. More than 70% of the wine section is stacked with varietals from the likes of France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Chile, South Africa, Australia — the list goes on. This is an anomaly when it comes to the highly protected world of wine; try finding a bottle of Ontario Pinot Noir at a Parisian wine shop.

So why does Ontario welcome the world of wine only to have our homegrown, superb Ontario wines excluded?

The LCBO claims to be bound by international trade obligations. Over the years, it has cited everything from GATT and NAFTA to something called the Canada-European Community Agreement on Wine and Spirits. But, according to lawyer Arnold Schwisberg, this is simply not true. Schwisberg has combed through these agreements and cannot find any nitty-gritty language that supports the LCBO's position. He also notes that "trade agreements, by their nature, are generally reciprocal." In other words, what's good for the goose is sauce for the gander. So how is it that, on the international stage, no nation is playing fair when it comes to Ontario wine?

It is hard to get the LCBO to offer comments. Requests for comment are redirected to the Ontario Ministry of Finance, which typically declines.

So, what's the unspoken reason for the LCBO favouring international wines over domestic products? Well, here's the skinny: the LCBO looks upon Ontario wineries as competitors to LCBO stores. These wineries can sell wines at their boutique stores. For decades, there have also been grandfathered offsite wine shops selling the Ontario product. Thus, whenever a bottle of wine is sold by one of these outlets, the LCBO see this as one bottle not sold by one of its 600+ stores. It's insane, but the mammoth bureaucracy that is the LCBO operates as a government unto itself.

Premier Ford would be well advised to note that his liquor monopoly discriminating against Ontario wines is actually detrimental to the overall Ontario economy. According to a 2002 KPMG report, the sale of a bottle of Ontario wine adds more than $4 of non-tax income to the provincial economy. In contrast, the sale of a foreign bottle of wine adds about 50 cents to the economy.

And yet, one Ontario vintner stated: "Sometimes I think the LCBO would like it if we all just died and went away."

Suppliers to the LCBO stay off the record. Otherwise, they risk having their products "delisted." Keep in mind that the "C" in LCBO stands for "Control."

Bottom line: Ontario is perhaps the only wine-producing region in the world in which the government actively conspires against the domestic industry as opposed to supporting and protecting it.

We wonder what Doug "Captain Canuck" Ford has to say about that?

David Menzies

Mission Specialist

David “The Menzoid” Menzies is the Rebel News "Mission Specialist." The Menzoid is equal parts outrageous and irreverent as he dares to ask the type of questions those in the Media Party would rather not ponder.