Dear Editor
At his campaign stop in North Battleford, Brad Wall made some questionable remarks about his plan to privatize liquor sales.
Wall said it is “fundamentally not true” that his government intends to close the publicly-owned Battleford liquor store, along with 39 others. But that is exactly what he plans to do.
The stores will be shut down, the staff will lose their jobs, and the buildings will likely be sold, as happened when liquor stores in four small towns were privatized in 2014. In exchange, a new private store will open. That store may or may not offer a selection as good as the closed public store, but it almost certainly won’t pay a living wage to local workers it employs.
Wall then made a statement that really was fundamentally not true. He claimed the 40 stores he plans to close “are not really making money for government.” In fact, those stores made more than $32 million for Saskatchewan last year. Each one turned a profit in at least the hundreds of thousands of dollars, several had profits in the millions.
Also less than truthful was Wall’s claim that “there will not be less government revenue as a result of” privatization. He pointed out that government will no longer pay liquor store operating costs (which average about 14 per cent of sales.) But he didn’t mention that his plan involves cutting the mark-up – government’s main source of revenue from liquor – by 25 per cent.
That will allow healthy profits for private operators, but will mean tens of millions less each year to pay for crucial public services.
Wall also said current liquor employees have the option to buy privatized stores, and even suggested liquor prices will drop post-privatization. Under Wall’s plan, North Battleford will still only have one liquor store. Does he think this private retailer, free to set their own prices, will sabotage their profitability by charging less than what they already know people will pay?
And does he really think the store’s five (mostly part-time) employees will have the resources to buy a business that involves keeping half a million dollars or more of liquor in stock?
Wall’s privatization plan has never been about helping Saskatchewan people. It will cost us millions in lost public revenue, terminate good jobs and, if anything, push liquor prices higher. Only a select few in the business community will benefit.
Bob Stadnichuk
Regina
