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"Heah! Yuh wanta buy a liquor store?"
Waldeck,
Sunday, June 8, 2014
by Joyce Neufeld
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Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has repeatedly promised that his Government would not privatise any of Saskatchewan’s current Liquor stores! Yet, here he is doing exactly that.
 
The four stores in Ituna, Langenburg, Kerrobert and Ponteix will be shut down in the next few months. These stores employed four full-time and eight part-time SLGA employees who have children attending local schools; they support local business and pay local taxes. The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) report these four stores also generated over $900,000.00 NET income in 2012-13 (which goes to public coffers).
 
NUPGE also reports that since Alberta liquor stores were privatised, Alberta has forgone $1.5 billion in tax revenue alone, while prices of beer, wine and spirits had the highest price on eleven of thirteen products surveyed.
 
According to SGEU stats, last year, $218 million was returned to the public coffers from liquor sales alone. In the past five years, public liquor stores contributed over $1 billion to the province. This is NET profit and does not include taxes levied on alcohol sales. 
 
Small wonder that Premier “Pinocchio” wants to turn this lucrative business over to his friends. 

Shades of Grant Devine
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