Liquor policies provide an interesting peek into the personalities of different governments.

Alberta is the hard-charger that went for full privatization and won’t look back even under an NDP government. Manitoba stubbornly refuses to consider loosening the grip of unionized government employees on the bottle. And in the middle stands Saskatchewan.

Premier Brad Wall has engineered an elegant middle-ground liquor policy that will dramatically improve service to customers while neatly pushing the privatization issue to the back burner.

First, it’s worth knowing just how badly Saskatchewan’s current liquor system works.

There are four types of liquor retailers in Saskatchewan: 450 off-sales (usually in hotels), 190 rural franchises (small town grocery stores that can sell bread and milk as well as booze), 75 government liquor stores and four new private liquor stores.

Saskatchewan off-sales can stay open late and sell cold beer, but they have to pay retail prices for their stock and therefore are forced to charge inflated prices. Rural franchises get better pricing structures, but the government forces them to sell warm beer and close early. Even government stores endure restrictions on hours and the types of beer they can put in the fridge. The new private stores have the most freedom in the current system, but they’re only operating in a few neighbourhoods.

Premier Wall’s recent announcement is elegantly simple: make all liquor retailers equal.

When the new policy is implemented after next spring’s provincial election, there will be one standardized liquor licence with one set of rules that applies to all retailers. Even more importantly, there will be one wholesale price applied equally to all retailers when they’re purchasing their stock.

This means that Premier Wall will give all 719 Saskatchewan liquor retailers the opportunity to compete for customers on a level playing field.

The Saskatchewan also announced that it would sell 40 government stores, but this is not the same kind of privatization push made famous in Alberta. The Saskatchewan government stores are being sold because they’re unprofitable. It’s a business decision as is the decision to keep the remaining 35 stores.

Further, while increasing choice for consumers and opportunity for liquor retailers, Premier Wall has also protected the provincial budget. The government currently takes dividends from Crown stores based on retail sales. Under the new policy, wholesale mark-ups applied at the government warehouse will keep the provincial treasury well supplied. So the Saskatchewan government will get an ample share of liquor revenues without the risk of running retail outlets.

Manitoba’s liquor system has its own idiosyncrasies.

There are 54 government-owned Liquor Marts and another nine Liquor Mart Express outlets. The government stores offer the widest selection, but they leave standard beers out in the warm.

There are 169 private liquor vendors in small communities where government stores can’t operate profitably. Many of these vendors aren’t even allowed to sell standard beers let alone sell them cold.

There are eight specialty wine stores. They’re great for wine enthusiasts. But scotch drinkers are out of luck if they want their own specialty store.

Then there are the 246 private beer vendors. Most of these are hotel off-sales. The government graciously allows them to sell cold beer. However, other than a few coolers and ciders, they’re not allowed to sell much of anything other than beer.

Imagine if Manitoba made all of its liquor retailers equal. What if liquor retailers could stop asking the government what they’re allowed to sell and ask their customers what they want instead? Those curious to see such a place should plan to visit Saskatchewan in a few months. With any luck Brad Wall’s elegant liquor solution will soon find a home in Manitoba as well.