Alberta cabinet minister says no floor prices coming in jumbo vodka jug controversy
The cabinet minister in charge of Alberta’s liquor industry says he won't impose floor prices for alcohol on the shelves but is declining to say what other changes might be contemplated.
"We're not looking to get in between the retailer and the consumer in any way. We won't be setting floor pricing," Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally told reporters Tuesday at the legislature.
“This is about social responsibility, and Albertans spoke very loudly.
"I can't forecast what will happen down the road.”
Nally’s comments came a day after he called out plastic four-litre vodka jugs with a sticker price of $49.95 being sold in Edmonton.
Nally said he considered selling vodka at that price offside. He said if a bill now before the house goes through, he would have explicit authority to set liquor prices and review the system with an eye to ensuring responsible pricing.
Nally was responding to social media photos that circulated over the weekend of the jumbo vodka jugs that were produced by an Edmonton-area business — T-Rex Distillery — and made for exclusive sale at Super Value Liquor stores.
Super Value said it discounted the jugs down from $60 in order to best serve customers looking to buy in quantity and save money.
After Nally expressed his concerns Monday and said he was looking at intervening, T-Rex announced that despite mixed reaction to the jugs, it was halting production.
On Tuesday, Super Value Liquor co-owner Sunny Bhullar told The Canadian Press the stores would end the special sale price on the jugs by day’s end.
"We still have the stock, but we'll end the promotional price in light of the minister's perspective," said Bhullar.
Under current rules, the provincial oversight agency, Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis, or AGLC, sets the wholesale cost retailers must pay for products.
T-Rex, however, said the agency doesn’t provide rules or guidelines on how a product should be priced on the shelves.
"Albertan craft distilleries have suffered from a lack of responsible pricing for a while now and, in fact, there are multiple distilleries out there that are selling their spirits even cheaper than T-Rex," the company said in a statement.
The distillery also criticized AGLC for removing a rule a few years ago that required distilleries produce at least 80 per cent of their products in-house.
T-Rex said the removal of the rule forced them, and others, to lower prices to stay in business.
On Tuesday, Nally committed to keeping the status quo.
"That 80/20 rule was reduced as a red-tape initiative to help small business and to spur investment, and I would suggest that it worked. So we're not looking at changing that," he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 9, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW Is there a cost to convenience? Canada approves new cancer immunotherapy treatment
A new cancer treatment recently approved in Canada promises to cut treatment time down to just minutes, but experts have differing opinions on whether it's what's best for patients.
Air Canada walks back new seat selection policy change after backlash
Air Canada has paused a new seat selection fee for travellers booked on the lowest fares just days after implementing it.
Canada's new dental program offering hope of free care to millions but many dentists aren't signed up
A new Canadian dental care program is offering the hope of free care to millions, but while 1.7 million people have signed up for the plan, only about 5,000 dentists have done the same.
Province boots mayor and council in small northern Ont. town out of office
An ongoing municipal strike, court battles and revolt by half of council has prompted the province to oust the mayor and council in Black River-Matheson.
King Charles III returns to public duties with a trip to a cancer charity
King Charles III returned to public duties on Tuesday, visiting a cancer treatment charity and beginning his carefully managed comeback after the monarch's own cancer diagnosis sidelined him for three months.
NDP says Ottawa's new grocery task force isn't living up to government promises
The federal government says the task force it created to monitor and investigate grocery retailers' practices has not conducted any probes and doesn't have a mandate to take enforcement action.
A group of Toronto tenants have been on a rent strike for a year and say there's no resolution in sight
Dozens of tenants in Toronto's Thorncliffe Park area have now been withholding their rent for one year, and it’s unclear when the dispute will end.
U.K. police arrest man wielding a sword in east London, 5 people are taken to the hospital
A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and two police officers on Tuesday in the east London community of Hainault before being arrested, police said.
Archeologists search for remnants of Halifax's 250-year-old wall that surrounded the city
Archeologist Jonathan Fowler is using ground-penetrating radar to search for historic evidence of the massive wall that surrounded Halifax more than 250 years ago.