Ontario Conservative leader Doug Ford says what the province needs is a good $1 (CAD) bottle of beer.
Ford may have found an electoral issue with his pledge on Saturday in a statement to revive the sales of “buck-a-beer.”
Beer has been on the minds of Conservative leaders of late. Less than two weeks ago, federal Conservative leader Andrew Scheer was tweeting about how Canadians were spending too much in taxes on beer. Scheer noted that a case of 24 included $20 (CAD) in taxes — $16 (CAD) more than Americans pay for their cases of beer.
Beer prices are also worrying Ford, but not so much the tax as the base price. In a statement on Saturday, Ford promised that if he forms the next Ontario government he will allow beer to be sold for just $1 a bottle in order to give beer drinkers a break and increase competition.
“We’re the only party that puts people ahead of government and consumers ahead of big corporations,” said Ford. “If a brewer wants to offer you a buck-a-beer, there is no reason for government to stand in the way.”
Ford noted that it was a Liberal government that insisted the minimum beer price couldn’t stay at a mere dollar. He said that decision “discouraged competition and gouged consumers.”
Instead, the Ford plan “puts people first. For too long beer consumers have been forced to pay inflated prices for beer in order to increase the profits of big corporations. We’re going to allow price competition for beer and this will save consumers money,” the statement continued.
