Ontario Won't Adopt Supermarket Beer/Wine Sales

The Members of Parliment are set to reject recommendations for privatised beer and wine sales.

TORONTO (CP), July 18, 2005 - Beer and wine won't be sold in Ontario grocery stores any time soon despite an independent report that recommends the move, sources say.

The idea is one of several major recommendations to be released Monday by a four-member panel that reviewed Ontario's provincially-run retail booze business. But government sources say the province currently has no intention of allowing grocers to sell beer and wine. "There will be no major policy changes to how alcohol is distributed" one source told The Canadian Press.

The wide-ranging Beverage Alcohol System Review will recommend making beer and wine available at big grocery stores such as Loblaws or Dominion, and at large department stores that also sell food such as Wal-Mart, but not necessarily at corner stores.

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