The news out of Victoria on changes to this province's confusing and outdated liquor control laws is somewhat encouraging.
There finally seems to be the appetite in government for movement on some of B.C.'s regulations that had their genesis in the age of Prohibition.
Top of the list, according to John Yap, the man in charge of the government review, is liquor in grocery stores.
We see nothing wrong with supermarkets stocking beer, wine and even hard liquor on their shelves such that it's possible to pick up a bottle as well as food for supper on the way home, and 75 per cent of those who participated in the government's opinion gathering agreed. That change alone would probably do more for the atmosphere than the Pacific Carbon Trust ever did.
Let's hope, the B.C. Liberals will resist the urge to over-complicate the issue. The last thing we want is pages of regulations determining the square-footage of allowable display, how it must be separated from the rest of the store, when the aisle or space can be open and when it must be hidden from sight. We hope the potential for union issues in the handling and sale of liquor in stores has also been addressed.
However, the biggest cause for concern in Yap's chat with the media Thursday was his assertion that the total number of liquor store licences will not change. If the B.C. Liberals hold true to that, it's clear that the value of a store licence will be ratcheted into the rarified level of commercial fishing licences and that any supermarket that wishes to carry liquor will not automatically be able to. As for beer in corner stores, forget it.
Let's hope there is more to these reforms than we are being told at present.
