Posted November 10, 2014
Straight Up: The Issue of Alcohol in Ontario premieres here November 13
Documentary Straight Up: The Issue of Alcohol in Ontario will premiere on Mom ‘n Hops Ontario beginning Thursday, November 13, 2014.
The 1 hour 10 minute film explores the current alcohol retailing system in Ontario and its origins.
“There are a lot of facts about the system and its origins that will surprise people, like the fact that the Beer Store isn’t run by the government, though more people are figuring that out,” explain the film-makers, Peter Lenardon and A.J. Wykes.
“After the Ontario Temperance Act was repealed in 1927, alcohol was re-legalized with very strict regulation and control. Part of this control involved intervening in the industry in ways that ended up favouring a small number of private businesses over others.”
“The LCBO is a very old organization, arguably the oldest government bureaucracy in Ontario. In the first LCBO stores, there were no products on display, and you needed a license to buy alcohol, which they could revoke for any reason they saw fit. The government’s focus was on control. Now we have a government agency that produces a free glossy magazine telling us how amazing their products are, and you can sample beer in one of their award-winning stores. Anytime someone advocates system reform, the LCBO and the Liberal government claim that private businesses can’t be trusted to sell alcohol, and it ends there.”
Tune in November 13 at momnhops.ca.
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