IT'S been a long time coming for such an obvious idea.
The union representing employees of B.C. government liquor stores suggested during negotiations this year that the stores open on Sundays to earn more money to pay for wage increases, exactly 40 years after Vancouver voters approved Sunday shopping in 1982. That the B.C. Liberals are afraid of political punishment is the only logical reason a government awash in red ink, which earns more than $900 million annually in liquor sales, wouldn't have already considered such an obvious source of revenue.
Right now, Sunday sales are left to a plethora of private liquor stores, which are forced by law to buy liquor from the Liquor Distribution Branch with barely a discount, resulting in noticeably higher prices. By not opening Sundays, the government has not only surrendered this share of the market, and the resulting revenue, but effectively required Sunday shoppers to pay more.
Sunday opening is just the first among needed reforms for B.C.'s antiquated Liquor Distribution Branch and related alcohol laws. Restaurants receive no discount on liquor whatsoever, adding up to $50 wines at many tables across the Lower Mainland. Establishments are also heavily limited in what they can sell with liquor - no liquor licences for movie theatres, for instance, a common sight in other provinces.
While outright privatization, the path Alberta followed, may not be the best route, the status quo has become untenable. It's time for the government to raise a glass to change.
