The public consultation process regarding the future of liquor retailing in the province is now complete.
“Saskatchewan people had a lot to say about how liquor should be retailed in the province,” Minister responsible for the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority Don McMorris said. “I appreciate the time that thousands of people took to complete the survey and especially those that took extra time to share their personal comments.”
The consultation was launched November 4 with Saskatchewan residents encouraged to complete an online survey and provide feedback via the consultation website at www.saskatchewan.ca/liquorretail. The website asked the public to consider five different liquor retailing options including maintaining the current system, an expanded private retail system, an Alberta-style fully private retail system, a managed transition to a fully private system and an expanded government retail system.
The consultation concluded January 30 with a total of 7,618 people visiting the website and 6,604 of those visitors completing the survey. More than 3,000 people also took the opportunity to submit personal comments. Written comments from key stakeholders have been posted to the consultation website.
Government will consider all feedback received as it determines the future of liquor retailing in Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan’s liquor retail system currently consists of 75 government liquor stores, approximately 190 franchises operating in private businesses in rural Saskatchewan, 450 off-sale outlets and three private full-line liquor stores. A fourth private full-line store is set to open in Regina in the spring.
