Dear Editor:
In his July 28 column about liquor privatization, Murray Mandryk writes about “the irrationality of those who have a stake in good-paying, unionized jobs in public retail liquor stores.”
Is it irrational to want to protect stable, family-supporting jobs for Saskatchewan people – especially considering most of the jobs at risk are in small communities, many of which are struggling greatly due to a lack of good employment opportunities?
Is it irrational to want to keep full-line public liquor stores operating, instead of replacing them with “integrated” private retailers who will devote a few shelves in a grocery store or pharmacy to liquor?
Liquor privatization means wiping out over 200 good jobs for Saskatchewan people. It means replacing successful businesses with empty storefronts. It means reducing product selection in small communities.
It also means giving up tens of millions of dollars in public revenues each year, as private owners and shareholders pocket money that used to pay for vital public services.
That’s the rational approach, is it?
Mandryk doesn’t seem interested in recognizing the real economic and human costs that liquor privatization will have. Instead, he’s hung up on an argument that only he seems interested in having, about whether public retailers are more effective at preventing underage drinking.
If Mandryk wants to engage in a debate about liquor privatization, I can recommend a few better questions to ask.
Why is government throwing away hundreds of good jobs, and a major source of reliable public revenues, right when jobs and revenues are disappearing due to the collapse in resource prices?
If our government is so confident that privatization will be revenue neutral, why hasn’t it made public any kind of economic analysis to prove its claim?
Why was the rule that restricted “integrated” private stores to towns of under 2000 quietly changed to 5000, so that almost every town facing privatization lost its right to retain a full-line liquor store?
Despite government’s efforts to avoid questions like these, it’s not too late for Saskatchewan to have a rational, informed debate on liquor store privatization.
But it needs to happen soon.
Once revenue-generating public assets like our liquor stores are gone, they’re gone for good – along with all the benefits they brought to Saskatchewan.
Sid Wonitowy
Yorkton, SK
