You’ll be able to buy B.C.-made wine straight off the shelf at your local grocery store next year.
You’ll also be able to wander around a music festival with a drink in your hand this summer, buy local wines at a farmers’ market, or enjoy “happy hour” at your favourite watering hole after work.
Justice Minister Suzanne Anton announced these and other sweeping changes Thursday as she introduced amendments to B.C.’s archaic liquor laws.
She said the legislation will enhance convenience, spark the economy, cut red tape, create new business opportunities and still protect health and safety.
Tim Stockwell, director of the Centre for Addictions Research of B.C., said the reforms have the potential to cause harm by increasing availability, choice and convenience.
But he said the government could offset that harm if, as promised, it ties minimum pricing to the strength of a drink, so that a beer with seven per cent alcohol would cost more than one with five per cent. “It’s possible the net effect of these policies will be increased convenience and affordability, but also less harm if they put this package together properly,” he said.
Under the proposed changes, grocery stores will be able to buy a liquor licence and sell beer, wine and liquor through separate cashiers located at a “store-within-a-store.” Grocery stores also will be able to get a Vintners Quality Alliance licence to stock premium B.C.-made wine on the shelves next to other groceries. The model could be extended to B.C.’s craft beers.
The government has yet to define a “grocery store,” but it made clear that convenience stores will not qualify.
Anton said the government plans to continue a moratorium on the number of private liquor stores in the province, but there will be a limited number of new Vintners Quality Alliance licences to sell premium B.C. wine.
The government expects to launch the two-prong grocery store model in 2015. Other changes will happen sooner. By summer, people will be able to sample and buy local wines at some farmers’ markets. They’ll also be able to enjoy drinks at discounted prices during happy hours, if prices stay above a certain level.
The requirement for fencing around beer gardens at festivals could disappear, allowing people to roam with a glass of beer or wine. Further changes include new wholesale pricing for wine and spirits from the Liquor Distribution Branch. All retailers — including government stores — will pay the same for booze as opposed to the current system of complex discounts.
Owners of liquor stores will be able to transfer their licence to a different location within the province rather than stay within a five-kilometre radius as current rules require. Stores will still have to be at least one kilometre apart from one another.
The B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association expressed disappointment that the new wholesale pricing will not apply to restaurants, bars and pubs.
