Saskatchewan reintroduces amendments to liquor legislation

The Saskatchewan government is trying again to let municipalities decide for themselves whether people can crack a beer in the park.

On Monday, the government introduced legislation to amend the Alcohol and Gaming Regulation Act. The Saskatchewan Party initially introduced the legislation in May, but the bill died on the order paper on the last day of session.

One of the proposed changes will give municipalities and park authorities the power to allow people of legal drinking age to consume alcohol in designated outdoor public places like parks.

“I really don’t think it’s any different right now than someone going to a bar or a restaurant and consuming alcohol. We expect everybody to get a safe ride home and do the responsible thing,” said Lori Carr, Saskatchewan’s minister responsible for the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority.

“I think individuals will be responsible when they’re going to the parks. That’s how I envision it.”

Any of the rules around it, like where and when, would be up to the municipality making the change for itself.

“I imagine the municipalities would also be having their law enforcement maybe have a special eye on that to see how it is going to turn out. They always have the opportunity to revoke that if it’s not working out the way they thought it might,” said Carr.

While the legislation would also allow the change to be made in provincial parks, Carr wasn’t expecting changes on that front.

“They’ve been pretty stringent on their use of alcohol in the parks and the way that they’ve decided to conduct business and I don’t see them changing that,” she said.

Any change to such things in provincial parks would have to come from the Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport.

The legislation introduced in May didn’t get the support it would have needed from the Official Opposition to fast track approval.

However, on Monday, the NDP’s SLGA Critic, Nathaniel Teed, seemed to support the legislation.

“I welcome any legislation that modernizes legislation on the books … I welcome this legislation as it increases quality of life for folks in our province (and) it reduces red tape for small businesses and consumers alike,” said Teed.

He acknowledged his party didn’t vote for the changes in the spring.

“We’re not here to rubber-stamp bills. We’re here to review them (and) engage with stakeholders — which we did all summer long,” explained Teed.

But now, Teed said he’s looking forward to the NDP taking the new bill to those stakeholders again and seeing what they think of it. He said during the consultations in the summer, the party heard both from people for it and those against; he said those against likely wouldn’t make the change in their own communities.

In addition, government said the new legislation would:

• Simplify the recorking provisions for permittees;
• Allow homemade beer, wine and cider to be served at family events that are permitted with a special occasion permit; and,
• No longer require applicants to publish their intentions to obtain a liquor permit in local newspapers.

The government said it expects the bill to pass in the spring.

— With files from 980 CJME’s Lisa Schick