| Dollar A Beer by Harv Holmes Hello Bob- Greetings to you and all of BeerNexus from Toronto. I thought you might like to know what's going on here in the home of the $1 beers. Sounds great doesn't it? Well it's not that simple.. . In Ontario will see the return of buck a beer very soon. While that's something to cheer about the Canadian Press has learned, though sources in the industry that few brewers will go along with that price. Let me explain for those who don't know, that here the government sets a minimum price on beer. Our Progressive Conservative government plan is to lower the minimum price of a bottle or can of beer to $1 from the current one of $1.25 starting on the Labor Day holiday weekend. They are following up on a campaign promise, which I for one am most glad to see. I'm sure that pledge helped them win the election. Here's the big catch in the whole thing - brewers would not be required to charge any less then they do now which is far more than a dollar but they can if they want go as low as $1. There is no maximum price limit. Also the lower price would not apply to draft beer nor would it include the bottle deposit. By the way, both the former minimum price and the new one is only for any beer that’s 5.6 per cent alcohol or less. The main argument for bringing back buck a beer is that the lower price would allow more competition in the beer market without affecting the province’s revenues from beer and wine taxes, which brought in roughly $589 million in the last fiscal year. The lower price would enable more people to afford it and increased sales would maintain tax revenues. Sounds logical to me. Ontario previously had buck-a-bottle beer but the Liberal govern- ment quietly hiked the minimum price in 2008, citing its “social responsibility” mandate. They claimed that by increasing the price there would be less binge drinking and drunkenness. If you're wondering why the government thinks breweries would lower their price so did I until I learned that they are offering “non- financial incentives” to every brewer who sells beer for $1. Brewers will be offered perks like prime spots at Liquor Control Board of Ontario stores or advertising in the store magazine’s inserts, among other possible rewards. Is that enough incentive? I don't know, but I sure hope it is. Thanks for reading this, Bob. I really enjoy your column and all of BeerNexus. Cheers from Toronto! ---------- Thanks Harv, I enjoyed your article. It's always interesting to read about beer in Canada where I know we have many readers. I hope those incentives work and some breweries will reduce their prices. I hope you get a chance to let me know the final outcome. . Again, many thanks for sending your article in- please write again! I'd like to invite everyone to send me their own columns about anything related to beer in any way just as Harv did. I select the best and publish them here. So join in and get writing! Cheers! Bob |
| BeerNexus proudly presents Bob Montemurro "the ombudsman of beer" Bob and Friends Speak of Beer...... |
 |
| |
 |
| Want to be a "friend of Bob" and write a guest column? Just e-mail your article to Bob HERE. |
 | |  | |  |
| Bob does not verify authorship of articles. All articles are assumed to be written by the sender. |