The Beer Store has been selling Ontario’s suds since 1927.

The Beer Store’s foreign-owned monopoly on all beer sales in Ontario is being challenged by a Halton resident, Derek Forward.
Forward has started a petition to end the Beer Store’s monopoly.
 The Beer Store is owned by three multinational companies: Molson, Labatt, and Sleeman. Originally the three largest Canadian breweries, all three have since been bought out by foreign entities.
Molson Canada is now owned by U.S. based Molson-Coors Brewery Company and has  48 per cent ownership in the Beer Store. Labatt is owned by Belgium-based InBev, and has 48 per cent. Sleeman is owned by Sapporo and has  four per cent.
“I decided to start a petition which calls for not the elimination of The Beer Store, but in fact, to allow a competing retail channel to also handle beer sales in Ontario,” said Forward.
His petition has been read a total of nine times in front of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. A response to the petition is expected this week, said Forward.
“We have over 10,000 signatures, a combination of online signatures and hand signatures and has been read nine times in front of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.”
The assembly has 24 days after the first reading of the petition to respond according to the rules of the legislature. Forward said the response should have been read Dec. 1, while the Legislature said Nov. 27, so a response is imminent any day.
“I have never been too pleased with the Beer Store in terms of how they operate,” Forward said. “I always thought they were a monopoly but once they became foreign owned, I really became upset.”
According to the Beer Store website, a 12 pack of bottles of Sleeman Original Draught is usually priced at $22.75. This includes a  ten cent deposit charge per bottle,  giving the consumer the option of returning the bottles. The same 12 pack at an IGA grocery store in Montreal is priced at $14.99, according to the IGA website.
The Beer Store generates $2.5 billion dollars in sales a year. Most of the beers sold at The Beer Store come from three major breweries. Many smaller breweries do not have enough money to purchase a spot on the Beer Store’s shelves.
“Our service fees are based on volume,” said Sara Taylor, media contact of The Beer Store.
According to The Beer Store’s 2007 Operational Report, the basic service fees for packaged products are $41.72 for the first 25,000 hectolitres and $46.48 for the next 50,000 hl. Any remaining volume comes to $47.44 per hl. Meanwhile with draught, it is $35.15 for the first 25,000 hl, $39.08 for the next 50,000 hl, and $39.22 for any additional volume.
The report also states that small brewery sales have increased by 112 per cent since 2003, and represent the fastest growing sales category.
“Clearly they are doing really well,” he said.
“Our system speaks for itself,” said Taylor. “We carry over 350 brands of beer, which means consumers have an outstanding selection of choice when they visit our stores.
“Consumers have selection, and they have convenience and our employees.
“It’s an open access system unlike the LCBO,” said Taylor. “We don’t set prices for the beer.”
Taylor said the breweries set the prices and they are out of The Beer Store’s control.
However Taylor said The Beer Store provides more than a local convenience store ever could.
“Our business is also an environmental leader, as we take back all of our bottles.  Consumers have selection, and they have convenience.”
CAPS purchases all of its beer from The Beer Store, according to Dionne Brown, a CAPS bartender. Brown said she doesn’t see a problem with the way The Beer Store is currently running.
“I think things are fine the way they are set up,” she said.
Forward plans on continuting to work towards the elimination of The Beer Store’s monopoly. He said there needs to be a change.
“We resent the fact that it is foreign-owned and we feel we have earned a right to be heard.”