A recent decision by the province to allow any licensed restaurant to sell alcohol with takeout or delivery orders was not welcome news to Mayor Greg Dionne.
Dionne said given Saskatchewan’s track record having the highest alcohol consumption in Canada, government should not be making it easier to get alcohol. However, he was not surprised at all by the changes announced on Monday.
“When the Government of Saskatchewan announced it during COVID, I told all my friends, you watch, this is going to be permanent,” Dionne said.
The change is effective immediately and allows any Saskatchewan restaurant that holds a liquor permit to sell alcohol without having to get a separate home delivery permit. There are 900 permitted restaurants that will be impacted by the change. Beer, wine, mixed cocktails and growlers are all included.
Restaurants are not allowed to operate as a full scale liquor retailer with retail displays or have an in-location shopping for takeout alcohol.
“All I have to say about that is alcohol is addicting and the revenue from alcohol is addicting,” Dionne said.
The provincial government said the change would allow a business sector struggling under to COVID-19 restrictions to make up some lost revenue.
“The pandemic hit the service industry particularly hard,” Minister Responsible for Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority Jim Reiter said in a news release. “These regulatory changes will provide additional service options for liquor-permitted restaurants and retailers to consider.”
In addition, the province’s approximately 620 retail store permittees will have the ability to provide home delivery of alcohol without having to apply and pay for a separate home delivery permit.
“Customers have new expectations about access and convenience when it comes to the way alcohol is sold in the province,” Reiter said. “We will continue to look for ways to modernize liquor regulations while also balancing social responsibility and acknowledging the roles of the province’s different liquor permittees.”
For Dionne, he said he expects the next expansion will be 24-hour alcohol sales.