A Call to Action - Please Take A Minute to Make a Difference

As you all know I am thoroughly disgusted by the ill-though-through policy that has introduced a new

kind of sums it all up doesn't it? photo by dennis the foodie

minimum drink price here in BC, giving us the highest drink price minimum in the country.

From the thousands of hits on my posts related to this and the overwhelming negative reaction to this policy I have received in the form of emails, tweets, comments & Facebook comments, I think it is time to act and let those who brought in this policy, and those who can advocate on behalf of alcohol consumers in BC, know we want this changed.

You may think, "why bother", but I can tell you from past experience, this works. When a politician gets 50-100 e-mails related to a certain issue, they take notice. When they get hundreds, especially of the negative variety, they get nervous and tend towards action. If they get thousands, well, they simply cannot ignore them.

If we act, maybe the Liberals will find a way to save face and fix this bad policy.

One thing is certain; if we do not act, nothing will happen. Please bcc me so I can keep track of the numbers of e-mails sent.

The e-mail does not need to be long. Short, sweet, polite and to-the-point. If you have specific examples as to how this new minimum drink policy is negatively impacting you - i.e., prices at your local have gone up, or the discount provided at your local being minimal because the drink price minimum is only slightly lower than the regular price - use them. I would recommend just sending one email and addressing it to all you want to send it to. I have provided email addresses below for you to cut and paste and a link so you can find your local MLA's contact info.

I would also suggest you "like" the Fix BC Happy Hour Facebook page as I am sure the politicians are keeping tabs on it and seeing the numbers rise substantially will make them nervous as well. Yes, I know Bill Tieleman has ties to the NDP and was one of their strategists, but this isn't about political parties, it is about getting bad policy fixed so it works for all of BC, not just those who want to see increases to alcohol prices in BC.

This policy just makes no sense.  Previous to this new legislation, there were literally hundreds of daily drink specials - specials that had to be maintained for the entire time a licensee was open that day - that were lower than the current drink price minimums and there seemed to be no issues or need to fix things due to widespread drunkenness, abuse and over-serving.

Now, to protect ourselves from ourselves, they have introduced temporary specials, happy hours, at higher prices to what end as the pricing during the daily specials were not causing undue problems. As well, in other provinces with substantially lower minimum drink prices, there are no glaring issues or problems that I have seen. The last time I was in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary or Halifax, I did not see drunken mayhem in the streets, yet our government, who were sold a bill of goods by "industry & health advocates", saw the need to set our minimum much higher to prevent problems that quite frankly do not exist in other jurisdictions.

Please write. Encourage your friends and family of drinking age to write. Remember to state in your e-mail you are a registered voter as losing votes is one of the few things that gets a politicians attention 100% of the time.

Here are some relevant e-mail addresses:

Christy Clark - premier@gov.bc.ca
Suzanne Anton (Justice Minister)  - JAG.Minister@gov.bc.ca
Douglas Scott (GM of Liquor Control & Licensing) - douglas.s.scott@gov.bc.ca
John Yap - John.Yap.MLA@leg.bc.ca
Shane Simpson (NDP critic liquor portfolio) - Shane.Simpson.MLA@leg.bc.ca
VanEast Beer Blog - vaneastbeerblog@gmail.com

List for MLA contact info

BC Liquor Law Reform Post Election: Where Do We Go From Here?

The election hangover has long past and British Columbians who were excited about the possibility of the NDP taking charge and following through on their promise to reform and modernize our provincial liquor laws "one practical step at a time" have come to grips with the reality that we have four more years ahead of us with the Liberals steering the political ship.

Hopefully not four more years of the same old, same old in regards to BC liquor policies, liquor law enforcement and support of the craft beer industry.

Liberals have made some positive changes to our liquor laws and policies over the past few years but have not "overhauled" them as they claimed in press release in Feb of this year (read press release here). The Liberal approach has been haphazard at best and reactionary, described by the NDP as a "piecemeal approach to liquor policy," and not a part of a systematic, comprehensive plan.

The NDP had made it loud and clear before and during the election that they were committed to a full-on review of current BC liquor laws, which would have included a comprehensive consultation with the BC liquor industry, to work out an effective strategy to modernize our liquor policies which even the Liberals have described as our archaic. They have, to this point, also been very open to listening to consumers and I have had several meetings with several NDP MLAs where we discussed issues that negatively impact craft beer consumers.

We will never know if the NDP would have been able to keep that election promise, but my sense  is that the commitment is real and that they are ready to continue to push the Liberals, from the opposition side of the BC Legislature, to start a full review.

So where do we go from here?

Let's start with looking at those who will be playing the modernize BC liquor law game and how this may impact the craft beer scene, at least in the short term.

Starting Line-up:

Former Vancouver City Councilor, Suzanne Anton, has been appointed the new Attorney General and Justice Minister and the alcohol portfolio now falls under her ministry's umbrella. Anton may bring a new perspective and energy to old issues as she is new to provincial politics. A government backgrounder introducing the new Liberal Cabinet states Anton will, "(b)egin consultations to modernize B.C.’s liquor laws". When Anton was running as an NPA mayoral candidate during the 2011 Vancouver City Municipal Election she stated in an email to CAMRA Vancouver she, “would work closely" with organizations like CAMRA Vancouver and "review opportunities to expand and support" the craft beer sector in Vancouver. 

Let's hope she still has this mindset on the bigger provincial stage where she is actually in THE position to be a game changer for the craft beer industry and the consumers who support it.

Anton will not be solely responsible for overseeing the massive task of reviewing and modernizing BC liquor laws. John Yap, probably best known as having been the minister in charge of multiculturalism who stepped down as a result of the recent Liberal ethnic voter scandal, has been appointed the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General for Liquor Policy Reform. According to the government backgrounder, Yap will "(l)ead the stakeholder consultation on modernizing B.C.’s antiquated liquor laws and recommend improvements to the minister to take to Cabinet. 

I don't know much about Yap, nor do many I have talked to who are activists and advocates related to craft beer, so we will have to wait and see how consultative and invested he is in regards to liquor law review and reform. Liberals historically have not put much stock into what consumers want and have instead pandered to their political cronies or made changes to quell issues where media and public pressure was getting just a little too much. I am not very confident that the former multicultural minister who claims to not have known about anything about the ethnic voter scandal until the NDP exposed it will be on the ball enough to tackle the massive task of consulting with all the various sectors of industry that often have conflicting wants and needs in regards to liquor law changes. 

Great news for the craft beer scene in the BC is that NDP MLA Shane Simpson is back in the game and has been tasked with being the official critic in regards to the Liberal liquor modernization strategy. Simpson has been a great supporter of the BC craft beer industry and consumers in the past and supported campaigns such as CAMRA Vancouver's Fess Up to Serving Sizes  (FUSS) and Bring Your Own Craft Beer (BYOCB), bringing these issues up for debate in the BC legislature.  As well, Simpson played a huge roll in halting the Liberal's controversial plan to privatize the BC Liquor Distribution Branch's warehouse system and he has a vested interest in supporting the BC craft beer industry as he has four craft breweries in his constituency. Simpson is stand-up kind of guy and one who, at least as far as my dealings with him, follows through on what he says he will do.


On the bench:

With Suzanne Anton and John Yap being tasked with overseeing the Liberal liquor policies, this means Rich Coleman is no longer in the game, at least for the moment. Coleman has been the minister in charge of the alcohol portfolio on and off for almost 10 years and it always seems to fall back in his lap when any whiff of controversy arises. Coleman has not particularly been the champion of the craft beer consumer and, at least from my perspective, is very wine-centric and does not take the craft beer movement very seriously. 

Coleman completely dismissed the FUSS  and BYOCB campaigns and has continually snubbed the BC craft beer industry such as when he recently reported BC will appoint a special wine envoy charged with the task of finding new markets for BC wines while allowing his BC Liquor Distribution Branch to send a high ranking representative to Washington DC to give a talk on how American craft breweries can break into the BC market to compete with the locals who are already struggling to get shelf space in BC Liquor Store shelves. During the BYOCB campaign I sent Coleman an email trying to advocate for the inclusion of beer in the corkage program. In his response, he basically summed up his argument against corkage for beer and attitude towards the BC craft beer scene  writing, "while we appreciate the evolving nature and uniqueness of the variety of beer, it is not in the same category as wine". 

Seeing Coleman distanced from the liquor scene is a huge positive in my opinion. 

Also out of the game is Karen Ayers who has been the General Manager for the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch (LCLB). Ayers and is seen by many as the person who has been most resistant to liquor law changes and who has the power to right liquor policy as she sees fit in some cases. From a distance, the LCLB appears to be like a fiefdom, with little to no accountability to the consumers and voters of the province. She has used the 2011 Vancouver Stanley Cup Riot as a scare tactic to continue justifying how all BC alcohol consumers should treated like children who have no self-control to act appropriately. 

Ayers announced her retirement just before the recent election and is to step aside at the end of this month. Under her watch, a culture of intimidation and bullying has been cultivated in the LCLB to the point where licensees and those with a financial stake in the liquor industry do not want to publicly raise issues or voice complaints for fear of retribution. The LCLB, under her direction, has enforced laws in a very inconsistent and random manner, hiding behind the often-outdated laws when convenient and ignoring them as insignificant when it suits them. You have to look no further than how Ayers has treated the Great Canadian Beer Festival (read here) while ignoring consumers' rights and consumer issues (here). There are many who were literally celebrating when Ayers announced her retirement and hopefully her replacement will be more open to change and considering other points of view other than her own.

Wildcard game-changer:

Christy Clark could play a major role in how our liquor reform is shaped if she is successful in her bid to be elected in the Westside-Kelowna riding in the by-election that has been called for July 10th. This riding is smack-dab in the middle of wine country, so you know that if Clark is elected as the area's MLA, she will have the wine industry representatives whispering in her ear about what that particular sector of the liquor industry desires. This may prompt Clark to push for changes to happen sooner than later, but I fear that the craft beer industry will continue to play second fiddle to the wine folks and will not have their voices heard as Clark tries to soothe and woo her constituents   


It will be interesting to see where this all goes. It seems both sides of the BC legislature are committed to reviewing BC liquor laws and it appears the Liberals are going to consult with the various sectors of the alcohol industry. Let us hope they include consulting with consumers and CAMRA BC, who have already reached out to the Liberals politely demanding to be included in the process.

I do not hold out great hope that the craft beer voice will be heard as loudly as the other sectors of the alcohol industry here in BC, but I guess we will have to wait and see.

VEBBie Awards - VanEast Beer Blog 2012 Year in Review

The fog brought on by too many barley wines over the holidays has finally lifted and the synapses are once again firing so now is as good a time as any to look back at 2012 and hand out the first ever VEBBie Awards. The award winners have been selected by the VEBB Awards Committee, a committee made up of, well, me and like 99% of all awards given out, mean absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things beer-related or otherwise.

The David Slays Goliath Award

The story of independent business owner Corinne Lea's battle with the LCLB in regards to the Rio Theatre and their liquor primary license set the tone for 2012. Lea applied for and was granted a liquor primary license for the Rio Theatre so they could serve alcohol at over-19, nighttime events and then was told by the LCLB she could not show movies, any time of the day or night, whether the alcohol was locked up or not, because of a decades-old, Prohibition-era law that prohibited liquor licenses in movie theatres. The ensuing public uproar at the ridiculous decision by the LCLB caused a huge backlash that saw support coming from NDP MLA Jenny Kwan, Vancouver City Council, the media, CAMRA Vancouver and thousands of angry citizens and eventually led to the provincial alcohol portfolio being passed from Shirley Bond to Rich Coleman who, after dragging his feet and screwing around with half-measure solutions, did the right thing and allowed for alcohol licenses in movie theatres but not before making Lea suffer due to having her business basically closed down for several weeks.

Things That Make You Go Hmmm Award

This award, hands down goes to the post I wrote entitled "Politics Make Strange Bedfellows" which saw VEBB break the story that the Ontario-only-based chain of liquor outlets called the Beer Store, owned by Molson (49%), Labatt (49%) & Sleeman (2%) had donated over $150,000 to the BC Liberals since 2005. I found it quite strange as to why an Ontario-only chain of beer stores would have such an interest in the BC Liberal Party but when you look at who owns The Beer Store and the fact that the big, national breweries are loosing ground quickly to the smaller, craft breweries.....hmmmm

Jackass of the Year Award

There was a lot of competition for this award but for me, in the end, there was one person who stood head and shoulders above the rest, that being restaurateur Chris Stewart, otherwise known as the Wine Snob. I encountered Mr Stewart while out for dinner with my wife and daughter and was amazed at just how arrogant, insulting and well, downright ignorant this man was. To sum things up, he stated to me, knowing full-well I was the president of CAMRA Vancouver, that craft beer drinkers were not worth enticing to his five restaurants because those who drink craft beer only order yam fries and basically had no idea what good food was all about. 

Political Friend of the Year for the Craft Beer Consumer Award

This award goes to NDP MLA Shane Simpson who, when I made contact with as a result of my CAMRA Vancouver President duties, was the official NDP alcohol critic. Mr Simpson was kind enough to take the time to meet with myself and CAMRA Van VP Dieter Friesen and actually listened to what we had to say. During that original meeting, Shane stated he liked what CAMRA was doing and asked us to produce a top-priority list of no more than three or four issues and stated if they made sense, he would take them forward to Rich Coleman, the Liberal minister responsible for the province`s alcohol portfolio.  And true to his word he did, bringing up CAMRA`s FUSS Campaign, the Bring Your Own Craft Beer campaign and the tied house and trade practice issue in the BC Provincial Legislature. Shane also wrote several letters to both Coleman and the LCLB in support of issues brought to him by CAMRA and members of the craft beer industry and also took the time to meet with myself some of the local brewers who have their breweries located in his riding of Vancouver Hastings. 

It was also Shane who, in July, put the Provincial Liberals under severe pressure in regards to their ill-fated warehouse distribution privatization plan by making public 39 pages of documents that showed the Liberals had no plans to privatize the liquor distribution warehouse system until approached by Excel Logistics personnel, who happened to be very interested in taking over BC`s alcohol distribution as they had in Alberta ans who had hired Liberal insiders to lobby for the privatization. 

Political Enemy of the Year for the Craft Beer Consumer

Rich Coleman, that man just does not give a shit about the BC craft beer industry or the BC craft consumer...enough said.

Best Supporter of BC Brewed Craft Beer Award
This past year Tap & Barrel restaurant opened up in the Olympic Village on the south side of False Creek. Besides having a killer patio that will be the envy of every other restaurant in the city next summer, they have a great 24-tap selection of craft beers all from BC breweries! I know that the Alibi Room, St Augustine's and a handful of other establishments have more taps and a better selection, but none are exclusively BC beers. I love the fact that the Tap & Barrel gang are sticking local and letting our great BC beers take centre stage...I wish more places would follow suit.

Whistler Blower Award
Journalist Bob Mackin, without a doubt, was the single biggest reason the province's liquor warehouse distribution system did not get sold to Excel Logistics, a company that had been lobbying and Liberals for years and who had basically, using Liberal insiders, talked the Liberals into thinking it was in the government's and public's best interests to privatize. Despite the fact almost everyone but Excel and the Liberals were against the move, Coleman and the Liberals plowed forward but with his series of posts hash tagged #Liquorleaks, Mackin led the charge of protest, went at the Liberals relentlessly with some stellar investigative journalism and exposed what NDP MLA Shane Simpson called a "tainted process".

Biggest About Face Award
Due to the above mentioned Bob Mackin, Shane Simpson along with many other journalists and special interest groups, the Liberals quietly announced they were dropping privatization plans for their liquor warehouse system while announcing having reached a tentative agreement with BCGEU in regards to a new contract.This announcement, hidden in the tentative agreement with the unionized government workers came out of the blue, just like the announcement to privatize did some seven months earlier. No real explanation was ever given as to why the plan, which had been heavily defended despite huge criticism from almost everyone, was dropped like a hot potato.

Biggest Shitstorm in the Local Craft Beer Community Award
Probably the worst kept secret in the BC craft beer community was exposed by blogger Barley Mowat in his post "The Grinch Who Stole Cascadia" when he wrote about how Steamworks owner Eli Gershkovitch was attempting to stop other craft breweries from using the descriptor Cascadian Dark Ale as he had trademarked the word Cascadia some years back. This blog post caused a shitstorm the likes that have never been seen before in the local craft beer community and resulted in a ton of negative, on-line bashing of Eli, Steamworks and the evils of corporate greed. For me, the actions of Eli and his "Steam Team" were a sign of how the local craft beer community is changing as the stakes get higher and the competition grows.


Well there you have it folks, the VEBBie Awards. It has been quite a year and there has been so much to write about. I only touched the surface of what is going on in the BC craft beer scene and now that I no longer have the responsibilities of being CAMRA Vancouver President, I hope to dedicate more time to this blog and writing. The readership of the blog has really grown and the more I write, the more I get people contacting me with great story ideas and inside tips about what is going on. Keep the flow of information coming and I will do my best to do what I do, which is offer up my rantings, ramblings, ideas and opinions in relation to the politics of the BC craft beer scene.

Vancouver Licensees Beware the Pint Police

A sleeve is not a pint, or even close to one,
so don't call it one!!!
In Canada, 20oz = pint, nothing more, nothing less

I don't know about you but I am getting fed up with being mislead, whether intentionally or not, by bars and restaurants who advertise pints and serve sleeves.

Twice in the last few weeks I have seen restaurants on Commercial Drive advertising "pint" specials when they were serving sleeves, which are between 20-40% less in volume depending on which version of the hated glassware is being employed.

This pisses me off to no end as it is misleading at best and downright dishonest if the misrepresentation is advertised knowingly.

A few Mondays ago I notice Falconetti's tweeting about an all-day "pint" special. I tweeted back a few times asking if they were in fact serving 20oz pours and was met with silence. Later in the day, I walked past the restaurant, on my way to the park with my kid, and noticed a "pint" special advertised on their sidewalk chalkboard outside the restaurant. Curious, I stuck my head it the door and there was not a pint glass to be seen. Just to be sure, I called to enquire, and was told "pints" were apart of the Monday special and when I asked if it was actually a 20oz pour or a sleeve, the response was, "technically, I guess you are right, we serve 16oz sleeves."

Technically, really?

I wonder if I offered them $3.60, which is 20% of the $4.50 they were advertising their "pints" of lager for on Twitter, if I would have been told I was technically right as well?

I don't think that would have been acceptable to them as it should not be acceptable for consumers to be mislead. I would have been very pissed off if I had seen their tweet, traveled specifically to Falconetti's for this great pint deal only to receive a sleeve.

Eventually, after yet another tweet, where I pointed out that their tweet and sidewalk chalkboard board were inaccurate, whoever is in charge of Falc's Twitter account corrected their mistake and tweeted to clarified that they did, in fact, serve sleeves.

A few days later, while walking down Commercial, I noticed Timbre advertising "all draft pints $4" on their sidewalk chalkboard out front of their establishment.

'Wow, what a great deal," I said to my wife, better check this out." I stuck my head and was not too surprised to see that this too-good-to-be-true offer was in fact too good to be true.

Later, when I got home, I queried on Timbre's Facebook page if they did serve pints and immediately they answered back that they did serve sleeves. When I mentioned the chalkboard advertising, they responded it must have been an "oops" and that they would correct the problem.

I don't know if these mistakes, which are not isolated to Commercial Drive or these two places, are a result of some generational information gap for those raised on the metric system, failure to pay attention to detail or intentional misrepresentations. The Imperial System is as foreign to some as hops are to Alexander Keith's IPA, but that should be no excuse for attracting patrons into their establishments with what is basically false advertising, whether intentional or not.

I come from an age when a pint was a pint, sleeves did not exist and millilitres and litres were weird European concepts, but the majority of today's generation of servers and bartenders are from a different era, the era of the metric system and the non-standardized sleeve glass. But they need to learn that "pint" is not just a generic term for a serving of draft beer, no matter the size. The term pint has the official and legal volume in Canada of 20oz (1 gallon is 160oz, pint is 1/8 gallon), as per the Federal Weights and Measures Act, or in today's money, 568ml.

The term sleeve has no legal or standard volume attached to it in Canada and is a term invented by the pub and restaurant industry to decrease serving sizes and increase profits.

I am not stating that either Falconetti's or Timbre were intentionally misrepresenting their serving sizes because frankly I don't know, and I commend them both for publicly admitting and fixing their mistakes, but obviously someone at both locations did not know that a pint is an actual measure, at least I hope that was the case. I am quite sure these same folks would not advertise a dozen chicken wings knowing full-well that a dozen is defined by the number 12 and knowing that their serving sizes were much less than 12 wings.

So why is it okay to do this with beer?

CAMRA Vancouver, with the Fess Up to Serving Sizes Campaign (FUSS), have tried to address the misrepresentation of serving sizes here in Vancouver and even had the cause brought forth in the BC Legislature by NDP MLA Shane Simpson, but the BC Liquor Control and Licensing Branch have done little to ensure licensees do not mislead consumers and Rich Coleman, the Cabinet Minister responsible for alcohol, basically stated it did not matter.

But it matters to this consumer and as a result of being fed up with this problem, I am going to start waging a one-man war against this misrepresentation of draft beer serving sizes. It is us, the consumers, that must put pressure on licensees to change if we want to see change. I know others out there are frustrated and even angry about this issue. I, for one, intend to start trying to apply some pressure.

Stay tuned for future posts related to the Pint Police... 

The Sh*t Has Hit the Fan

The shit really hit the fan Thursday, splattering all over the BC Liberals and their plans to fast-track the sale of the LDB warehouses and warehouse distribution system.

NDP MLA, and my favourite BC politician at the moment, Shane Simpson, flung the poop when he dropped a bombshell, producing 39 pages of documents that show that the BC Liberals, as far along as June 2011, had no plans to privatize liquor distribution, yet weeks later, after then Solicitor General Shirley Bond was approached by Exel Logistics VP Scott Lyons, the government had a change of heart and forged ahead with the privatization plan, despite having no business case.

After Simpson released the documents, accessed through Freedom of Information, there was a media frenzy. I especially enjoyed Vaughn Palmer's grilling of Labour Minister Margaret MacDiarmid on CKNW shortly after Simpson's announcement. MacDiarmid's comment that, "governments do change their minds" is ridiculous under the circumstances when you consider that in June/11 LDB privatization was not on the table, yet after the meeting with Lyons August 25th/11, the privatization proposal was alive and moving forward. It reeks of the BC Liberal claims that the HST "was not on their radar" prior to the 2011 election, yet weeks after being voted back into government, Gordon Campbell and his Liberal Government were ramming the hated tax down tax payers throats. 

At least one respected political pundit, retired political journalist, Havery Overfeld, believes that current government cabinet ministers could be charged criminally if they go through with the sale and privatization.  

Do the Liberal government really think the general public are that stupid?

Reporter Bob Mackin has been exposing the whole sordid LDB privatization mess with his series of blog posts hash tagged #liquorleaks on his blog 2010 Gold Rush. In a post from May, Mackin released a document that shows that although the BC Provincial Government did not have a plan to privatize the LDB, Exel Logistics did and they were actively trying to sell it to the Campbell era Liberals in 2010. There is now proof that the lobbying of the Liberals by Exel goes back as far as 2005 and that Exel were attempting to help shape the government's Request For Proposals (RFP), using Progressive Group lobbyists Patrick Kinsella and Mark Jiles, both of whom have strong Liberal connections, so that Exel would have an advantage.

I can't keep track of all that is happening now as the story is so convoluted but here is a good summing up from Vancouver Sun reporter Jeff Lee. There are just too many of the same characters showing up with the same connections for this whole affair to be on the up-and-up.

Here are some of the major players and how they are connected:

1. Exel Logistics VP Scott Lyons, who approached the BC Liberals to present this privatization plan is the same Scott Lyons who was high up in the food chain in The Beer Store organization, a chain of beer retail outlets that dominates the Ontario beer market with an 85% share and who are owned by Labbat Brewing Company, Molson Coors Canada and Sleemans Breweries.
2. The Beer Store funneled well over 100,000 in political contributions into BC Liberal coffers since 2005, despite having no retail outlets here in BC, which you can read about here and here.
3. Exel Logistics hired the Progressive Group to help lobby the government in regards to privatization of the LDB.
4. Progressive Group is owned by Pat Kinsella, who has strong Liberal connections having been an adviser to Christie Clark during her successful bid to become premier last year. Kinsella was also former Premier Gordon Campbell's campaign manager during the 2001 and 2005 elections and who was involved in the whole BC Rail debacle .
5. Mark Jiles, a Progressive Group consultant, registered in 2010, along with Kinsella, to lobby Liberal cabinet ministers including Rich Coleman, Shirley Bond and Pat Bell, on behalf of Exel Logistics, "to develop a new liquor distribution system for the Province of BC".   
6. Mark Jiles, according to his LinkIn profile was a sales consultant for Labbat Breweries of BC. Mr Jiles is also no stranger to controversy when it comes to suspicious lobbying.
7. Exel Logistics has run Alberta's liquor distribution since 1994. A recent post on onbeer.org highlights many problems associated with having a private monopoly running a provincial distribution system.

I hope that these latest developments peaks the public ire and motivates the people of BC to demand a halt to this process until the Liberals can produce evidence they are not just selling off public assets to appease big business and reward long-time supporters and friends. If they can produce a business case and a cost-benefit analysis that supports that this move is in the best interest of British Colombians, then I say let them put those forth for the public and private sectors to assess and then hold a referendum during the next election so that we have an actual say in what goes on in this province.

Until that time, I hope the likes of Shane Simpson and Bob Mackin keep putting Liberal feet to the fire.

You would think that after the HST disaster, the Liberals would have learned. 

Craft Beer Drinkers Getting Short Poured Again

About a month ago I wrote about the discussions being held by provincial politicians looking at possibly changing liquor laws to allow for a Bring Your Own Bottle-style program in BC restaurants.

In that post I pointed out that most of the focus was on including wine only to be allowed to be brought by patrons to participating restaurants and I have since had confirmed that the BC craft beer industry is once again being given no support by the Provincial Government while the wine industry is getting preferential treatment.

But this latest snub of the craft beer industry has a lot to do with the fact that the craft beer industry and the craft beer consumers of BC are just not as organized as their counterparts in the wine world.

NDP MLA and critic for the LCLB/LDB, Shane Simpson brought up the subject in the BC Legislature, prompted in part by discussions and email communications with CAMRA Vancouver who are pressing to have beer included in any BYOB discussions. When asked directly by Mr Simpson if beer, particularly craft beer, is being considered as a part of any future law reforms in regards to BYOB, Liberal Cabinet Minister Rich Coleman, the minister responsible for the LCLB/LDB, replied, "No. We (Liberal Government) have not even had any overtures from restaurants or bars in BC, with regards to that."

So, a combination of a lack of organization and desire to lobby on their own behalf by the Craft Brewers Guild combined with a lack of respect for the BC craft beer industry from the Provincial Government has once again placed beer lovers in this province in the role of second fiddle.

Those involved in and who support the craft beer industry and those who love craft beer need to get active and need to do it quickly. Check out what the wine folks have been doing to make sure the government knows they are interested in BYOB.  Sign the CAMRA Vancouver petition to show your support for craft beer and BYOB. Tweet Rich Coleman @colemancountry, email him at rich.coleman.mla@leg.bc.ca or contact LCLB General Manager, Karen Ayers at Karen.Ayers@gov.bc.ca to let them know we want craft beer included in BYOB talks.

If not, we craft beer drinkers are soon going to be crying into our pints about how the government has once again short-poured the craft beer community in BC while local wine lovers are busy enjoying their favourite BYOB wine while out enjoying a meal.

CAMRA Vancouver Making a FUSS in the Legislature

Disclaimer: For those who do not know, the writer of this blog is also the president of CAMRA Vancouver

CAMRA Vancouver may have finally arrived on the political scene last week when their FUSS Campaign was raised in the BC Legislature by NDP MLA Shane Simpson.

Mr Simpson, during debate in the legislature, asked Liberal MLA and Minister of Energy and Mines, Rich Coleman, who also oversees the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch and the Liquor Distribution Board, why the LCLB was not enforcing their law requiring licensees to provide serving size-price lists to patrons, citing that it is in the interests of public safety and consumer protection that this law be properly enforced.

Although CAMRA Vancouver, or the FUSS Campaign, were not mentioned by name, this issue was raised as a direct result of a meeting held a few months ago between myself, CAMRA Vancouver VP, Dieter Friesen and Mr Simpson who is the NDP critic for all things alcohol in BC. During the meeting, Mr Simpson stated he saw value in the FUSS Campaign, what it stood for, and stated he would support the initiative, a promise he has followed through with by writing a letter to Mr Coleman, asking for governmental support of the FUSS Campaign and then by raising the issue in the BC Legislature.

In his comments to Mr Coleman, Mr Simpson pointed out that there are no standardized measures in BC for draft beer and without serving size lists, customers often have no idea what they are paying for.

"We know glasses can be of mighty different sizes," stated Simpson in the legislative debate. "People should know if it's a real pint, or is it 12 ounces, or what is it?"

Simpson then went on to state that licensees should not only have serving size lists available, but that they should be posted for people to see, stating there is "the need for the establishment to display a sign that says, 'When you get a mug of beer here, this is the size that you're buying,' and you'll know and you'll (the customer) pay accordingly."

Public safety was also raised as an issue, with Mr Simpson pointing out that many of the craft beers on the market are much higher in alcohol content compared to the traditional, massed-produced lagers, which could lead to accidental intoxication if a customer does not know exactly how much he is consuming.

"There's a difference here, if you're having a couple of these (higher alcohol beers) versus a couple of Coors Lights, in terms of making a decision about your conduct, particularly if you're going to go out and get in a car," stated Simpson. "Is there any thinking about enforcing that more rigorously or encouraging that enforcement through your inspectors?"

Mr Coleman was frank in his response, stating he was aware of the serving size issues, but the the LCLB was focusing their resources on four major enforcement issues, those being service to minors, overcrowding of licensed establishments, sale of illegal liquor and over-serving. Coleman did not acknowledge that Mr Simpson did link serving sizes to possible over-serving, even if that over-serving may be accidental.

"Those are the four priorities," stated Coleman. "They (licensees) are required to do the serving sizes and post the price list, and we will continue to remind them through the newsletter. The odd time we might get a complaint that we would actually spend some time on, but for the most part that's the expectation."

So although the LCLB is aware that this law is being flaunted, it will not act unless they are forced to by getting specific complaints against specific licensees. The LCLB are bound by policy to investigate all complaints. So in their mind, the LCLB will not prioritize this issue unless complaints for the public begin to roll in.

I guess not all laws are meant to be enforced equally, even though "it is a law, we have no choice" is the party line of the LCLB when they are enforcing ridiculous laws like no dancing in liquor primary establishments and they are questioned as to why they are cracking down on something so harmless.

At this point in time, CAMRA Vancouver has not made any specific complaints against particular licensees, although I have personally been tempted more than a few times when I have seen a sign or menu advertising a "pint" and then the server brings over a sleeve and brushes off my complaints that they did not deliver on  what they promised. If you find yourself in this situation and are unhappy with the response or explanation you get, you now know how to prompt the LCLB inspectors into action.

CAMRA Vancouver received confirmation this week that the LCLB is following through via their newsletter "Liquor Line" which goes to all licensees and LCLB employees in the province. LCLB General Manager, Karen Ayers, via email, advised me, "the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch has included a reminder to licensees and to our staff," stating, "the newsletter is the most effective and cost efficient method we have of communicating to licensees."

A mention in a newsletter does not seem like a huge result for CAMRA Vancouver, but I would argue differently. I do not think CAMRA Vancouver has ever been able to get political support at the level of the Provincial Legislature, or has been successful in grabbing the attention LCLB and prompt them to any sort of action. It is not much, but it is a start and the FUSS Campaign has definitely made both politicians and the LCLB aware that CAMRA is out there advocating on behalf of the craft beer consumers of BC.

CAMRA Vancouver needs to take a pause to see if there are any changes as a result of the newsletter reminders and if not, will decide how to take this issue to the next level. I know there are some out there that think we are missing the mark with this campaign and who believe it is a waste of energy, but those few are in the minority and are usually not looking at the issue from a consumer's point of view.

As long as I am president of CAMRA Vancouver, I will continue to raise this issue until we get compliance and enforcement. I am not one for pushing for the LCLB to be heavy-handed with their enforcement unless the law being enforced makes sense.

Knowing what you are being served and what you are paying for, stamping out misrepresentation of serving sizes/short pouring and promoting responsible drinking/public safety do make sense to me and at its core, that is what FUSS is all about.