REGINA, SK: A coalition of groups is calling on the Saskatchewan government to provide fairness in liquor pricing so that Saskatchewanians will get the best price when they pick up a six pack of beer or a bottle of wine.

The Saskatchewan Hotels and Hospitality Association (SHHA), Restaurants Canada and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) are jointly launching a petition calling for fairness in pricing, selection and regulation for liquor retailing.

“Customers often ask off-sale owners why our prices are higher. The answer is simple: we’re forced to pay higher prices when we buy liquor from the government,” said Jim Bence, SHHA CEO. “The government needs to make the playing field level with fairness in pricing, selection and regulation because then customers will be the big winners.”

The Saskatchewan government is currently developing a new policy for liquor sales. The current system imposes different pricing structures, selection options and regulatory requirements for different types of retailers. For example:

• Rural franchises receive a 15.3 per cent discount on liquor purchased from the government.
• Off-sales, such as hotel bars and restaurant off-sales, have to buy liquor from the government at retail prices and there are no government discounts.
• Full-line private stores such as Sobey’s and Co-op get a discount of 16 per cent.

“Right now off-sales have some advantages and rural franchises have other advantages and in the end we all lose because the system is unfair,” said Denny Joyal, owner of the Waterfront Beach Bar and Grill at Regina Beach. “There’s lots of room in the market for us to compete and customers will come out ahead when we’re all free to provide the best combination of price, selection and service.”

The joint petition calls on the provincial government to provide fairness in pricing with the same pricing structure for all liquor retailers, including: rural franchises, off-sales, full-line private stores and government stores. The coalition is also calling for fairness in selection and regulation so that all retailers can offer a full line of products and enjoy equal opportunities to sell to restaurants and other establishments.

“Saskatchewan restaurants are trying to provide the unique drinks and selection their guests want, but the government won’t allow us to buy products from private retailers,” said Dwayne Marling, Manitoba-Saskatchewan vice president for Restaurants Canada. “Customers will win when the industry is competing to serve them.”

“Saskatchewan governments have been tinkering with liquor sales for too long,” said Todd MacKay, Prairie Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “If the government isn’t going to get out of the liquor business completely, the least it can do is allow private liquor retailers to compete on an even playing field.”

The petition can be found online here: https://www.taxpayer.com/resource-centre/petitions/petition?tpContentId=103