Regarding the article “Council nixes wine on grocery store shelf” – Well, thank you, Mayor Hawes and council for being the moral compass of our community and nixing our access to alcohol – not.
It’s interesting that after listening to a presentation by the people with a vested interest in limiting access to beer and wine for their own financial reasons that a bylaw be proposed, but what about all the people (meaning the public at large) who have fought for and waited patiently for the same kind of access as countries around the world? Where was the consultation with them?
You can point to social issues and say that allowing more access to alcohol will create problems for some. Well, there we go with the lowest common denominator again. Because some will have a problem, then all should suffer. We are, after all, small children who must be controlled for our own good, but most especially for the benefit of a select few.
Will some small businesses be impacted? Quite possibly. Can they adjust? Maybe by adopting a different model. Certainly supermarkets etc. are going to focus selling higher volume items, so small stores can focus on more specialty items.
At the end of the day, I want the convenience to pick up a bottle of wine or a case of beer while I’m doing my groceries. I don’t want to have to go to a second store just for basic beer and wine. But if I’m looking for better quality wine, or imported or craft beer, then by all means I’m willing to shop around.
So I say Mayor Hawes if you feel strongly about this, then let’s hold an actual referendum on it and get the real position of the people who live and work in this district, not just a few vested interests.
Victor Larsen
Mission
