By Charlene Tebbutt

SGEU urges city to help stop growth of private liquor retailers

Jan 17, 2019 | 4:21 PM

Members of the union representing many public sector workers in Saskatchewan is urging local lawmakers to do more to prevent private retailers from taking over when it comes to liquor sales.

The Saskatchewan Government and General Employees Union (SGEU) is asking Prince Albert city council to help curb the sale of liquor retail permits from public to larger private companies. The union sent a letter to city councillors urging them to look at options around objecting to permit transfers, enacting new zoning regulations to limit the number of retail liquor stores, or regulating the distance between stores.

A moratorium on the transfer of liquor store permits was lifted in early October.

“There are some very large private sector organizations that are looking at the liquor, at the private liquor in Saskatchewan,” Bob Stadnichuk with SGEU said. “They have the money to buy licences so we want them to be aware that this may happen in the community, somebody may be offered a handful of cash in exchange for a licence.”

Stadnichuk said SGEU has voiced concerns over private liquor permits with various communities previously and recently sent more letters to a number of other communities with public liquor stores, including North Battleford, Saskatoon and Regina.

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“Our goal was to at least inform them that, here are the dangers. Private liquor stores are not bound by the same laws, or code I guess, as public liquor stores,” Stadnichuk added. “The whole privatization initiative really hasn’t provided what the public thought it would was going to. The prices have continually climbed.”

Local councillors decided to send the SGEU letter and requests to city administration for a report on the issue. Ward 4 Coun. Don Cody said any conversation over liquor permits should include private permit holders as well.

“We owe it to our business community that we always confer with them,” he said.

At Monday’s executive committee meeting, Mayor Greg Dionne said again that the city doesn’t make the rules when it comes to regulating alcohol and will need to check to see if council has any options on the issue.

Charlene.tebbutt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @CharleneTebbutt