Some of B.C.’s nearly 100-year-old liquor laws are up for review by the provincial government, which is set to launch a website to get public input on the topic next month.
But it seems that reforming liquor laws isn’t a hot topic in only B.C. these days, and there are lots of updates from around the country that B.C. might be able to consider for itself.
Saskatchewan implemented the second wave of alterations to its liquor laws earlier this month. The 77 reforms include one to permit restaurants to sell cases of special-order specialty beer to customers (after they’ve ordered a meal, but still).
Manitoba’s liquor laws ? some of which dated back to the 1950s ? got a complete overhaul in May of this year. Restaurants are no longer required to report their food-to-drink ratios, which helps to reduce lounge lines by diverting people going out for a drink to the restaurant side of an establishment. The new rules also took the number of liquor licences down from 12 to three. Spas and hair salons can also allow alcoholic indulgences.
The changes in Manitoba also allow for people to bring their own wine to restaurants that offer an uncorking service. Although the uncorking fee will run you close to what a bottle of wine from the restaurant would cost, the point isn’t to save money ? it’s to be able to savour your favourite wine with a good meal and to increase options for customers.
While B.C.’s laws clearly need some updating, one thing that will never change is the concern people have over the social problems associated with liberating alcohol sales, advertising, and consumption laws. Concern about problematic repercussions is legitimate, as are concerns about the very real restrictions these outdated regulations place on consumers and businesses alike. In fact, all of the aforementioned updates to the Prohibition legacy in other Canadian provinces are aimed at increasing options for both consumers and businesses.
The government is tasked with yet another unenviable endeavour: striking some kind of delicate balance between social responsibility and offering options.
Elsewhere, these options are shrinking.
The president of Turkey approved changes to alcohol sales and advertising in June, banning alcohol sales between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. and effectively outlawing most advertising campaigns (save internationally-marketed alcoholic beverages at international fairs). Violators of the advertising ban face financial penalties ranging from 5,000 to 200,000 Turkish liras ? or about $2,660 to $106,700.
Images of alcohol on TV, in movies and in music videos will be censored as well, similar to the way cigarettes are blurred in Turksih media and scenes “glorifying” alcohol consumption are prohibited. And, as with cigarette packaging, alcohol bottles will be smacked with labels that warn of the dangers of alcohol consumption.
B.C.’s certainly isn’t the first government to look at liquor law reforms, but it certainly won’t be the last.
