Achi news desk-
Alberta’s alcohol industry is pushing back against the provincial government’s consideration of allowing liquor sales in grocery and convenience stores.
Alberta Service Minister Dale Nally said last week that a panel of MLAs had been exploring the idea since December.
His office says it has already consulted with Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC), warehouses, existing retailers, grocery and convenience store operators, manufacturers and responsible use advocates Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) . ).
“We heard about some innovative things that Ontario is doing, getting liquor on the grocery store shelves, and we wouldn’t be doing my job as minister if we didn’t look at it,” Nally said.
That “groundbreaking” move out east will see the Ontario government allow the sale of beer, wine, coolers and seltzers in select supermarkets and convenience stores in 2026.
Ontario’s alcohol sales are made primarily through government-operated retailers, while Alberta’s industry has been privatized for decades.
Many in Alberta’s alcohol industry say the change could be disastrous.
“We don’t need another point of sale for liquor,” said Alberta Liquor Store Association president Ivonne Martinez.
“I’ve never received a phone call saying, ‘I can’t get spirits in enough places, please open more points of sale.’ It has never happened.”
Martinez tells CTV News that a large portion of Alberta’s 1,700 independent stores would be hit hard by the new competition.
“Small businesses already have very little margin to work with, so even a 10 percent drop in sales would be devastating,” he said. “No one is asking for this. So why try to fix a problem that isn’t broken?”
The owner of Wise Guys Liquor in northeast Calgary agrees.
“I’m in a week-to-week situation,” Sean Semark said. “I buy what we need and make sure we turn a profit every week. That’s my business model, compared to the big guys, who have almost unlimited buying power.”
Nally made a point of stressing that no final decisions have been made.
Indeed, the minister said he was still waiting for the panel’s report before commenting again.
He says that could come in “weeks or months.”
