To the Editor:
Don McMorris, Minister responsible for the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA), attempts to brush aside concerns about the closure of four small town liquor stores in a June 18 letter.
The minister tries to soft-sell the fact that the SLGA is shutting down stores in Ituna, Kerrobert, Ponteix and Langenburg, by suggesting that these stores are not being closed, they are being 'converted'.
The facts suggest otherwise. SLGA will no longer own and operate a store in any of these four small towns. The buildings owned by the SLGA will be sold. The jobs of the store managers and staff, small town residents, will be eliminated.
Finally, the net revenue earned by the four stores - $4.1 million in the past five years - will no longer be generated by those stores and returned to the government treasury to fund schools, hospitals and roads.
The government claim is that the service will continue because an existing local business will now be licensed as a franchise and permitted to sell alcohol. But the end result is that an established, community-oriented service will be gone and jobs lost, while an existing business simply expands its inventory.
What will this mean for those small towns that will be losing their liquor stores? They will lose good, family-supporting jobs that help keep local businesses and services viable. They will also lose the customers from surrounding areas who come to shop at the liquor store and stay to have lunch at a local restaurant or fill up at the local gas station.
Will selection and access be the same once the liquor store is gone? Probably not.
Private franchises do a good job of providing a service to small communities without an SLGA store. But they typically do not offer the same level of selection. An existing business, like a convenience store or a drug store, is unlikely to have the shelf space or the ability to offer a wide-ranging selection. In practice, franchises carry less stock than rural SLGA stores. As for access, hours of operation could also be reduced. Private franchises can set their own hours. Some close up shop at 5:00 p.m. on a Friday.
Despite the public relations spin the minister is putting on these rural store closures, it seems pretty clear that the government is cutting back services in small town Saskatchewan. The end result will be fewer good jobs for local families, reduced selection and access, and lost economic opportunities in those communities.
Government made the decision to close these four rural stores without consultation or warning. Residents in other small towns may find themselves wondering - 'who's next?'
Donna Christianson, Regina, SK.
