‘Shelves empty’: Sales up at Quebec liquor stores near Ontario amid LCBO strike

MONTREAL — Quebec’s liquor Crown corporation says it’s seeing a surge in sales at some stores along the boundary with Ontario amid a strike by workers of that province’s liquor control board.

Société des alcools du Québec spokeswoman Linda Bouchard said since last week there has been an increase in customers at between 20 and 25 outlets located near Ontario.

“Spirits and ready-to-drink products are particularly popular,” Bouchard wrote Tuesday in a statement, adding “the shelves empty quickly.”

She said the SAQ hasn’t yet calculated the increase in its strike-related sales, because “all efforts are deployed to ensure that operations are adjusted to properly supply the branches.”

Approximately 10,000 workers at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario walked off the job July 5 after negotiations broke down. The Ontario Public Service Employees Union, which represents them, has said the province’s alcohol-expansion plans that would see ready-to-drink cocktails sold outside LCBO stores are the main issue in the dispute.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government responded this week by further speeding up its plan to expand alcohol sales. Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy announced Monday that grocery stores already licensed to sell beer and wine can start ordering the pre-mixed cocktails, as well as large packs of beer, to sell starting Thursday instead of Aug. 1 as previously planned.

A number of industries, from tourism operators to wedding venues, have expressed concern about the impact the strike is having on their operations.

And while the SAQ, which has a near monopoly on the distribution and sale of bottles of spirits and most wines in Quebec, may be seeing a revenue bump from Ontarians, the Crown corporation has been entangled in its own labour dispute.

Some 5,000 SAQ workers walked off the job in April for the first two days of a 15-day strike mandate. Since then, negotiations have continued, with the union announcing earlier this month that progress had been made on scheduling for part-time workers.

The union that represents the Quebec workers issued a statement last week expressing support for their Ontario counterparts, adding that discussions were underway to develop an “inter-union alliance.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 16, 2024.

Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press