Premier Ford in the County to announce ‘buck a beer’ is back Aug. 27
Sue Capon | Aug 07, 2018 | Comments 65
Barley Days Brewery general manager Kyle Baldwin with Premier Doug Ford, Finance Minister Vic Fedeli and Bay of Quinte MPP Todd Smith, Government House Leader and Minister of Government and Consumer Services Tuesday morning at the Loyalist Parkway brewery. – Sue Capon photos
Beer for a buck will be available by the end of this month and brewers will be given incentives to drop their prices.
Premier Doug Ford announced the return of ‘Buck a Beer’ Tuesday morning at Barley Days Brewery on Loyalist Parkway, with Bay of Quinte MPP Todd Smith, Government House Leader; and Vic Fedeli, Minister of Finance.
Some protesters lined up on the highway and filled the entrance to the brewery shouting “shame on you” and carried placards on multiple issues they believe demand more attention than beer – such a poverty, sex education and climate change. There was also a crowd there to thank Smith and Ford for the cancellation of the wpd industrial wind turbine project.
Inside, the premier said it was “a promise made, a promise kept” on the program announced during the spring election campaign. “The day you have been waiting for is finally here – we’re bringing back a buck a beer to Ontario… Once upon a time you could buy a beer for $1 a bottle. Consumers loved it, participating brewers loved it; it was a win-win,” Ford said.
He blamed the former Liberal government for increasing the price in a social responsibilty campaign in 2008.
“They passed a new rule that raised the minimum beer price; another piece of red tape that made a buck a beer illegal,” said Ford. “The day of the government putting its hand in your pocket each time you buy a two-four or six-pack is over.”
Questioned about increased substance abuse, Ford stated he trusts Ontario consumers to make smart choices when it comes to alcohol, regardless of price.
“I think people in Ontario are mature enough to know when they’ve had one too many… I have all the confidence that the people of Ontario can be responsible beer drinkers… We’re just trying to put money back in the consumer’s pocket.”
Ford said nobody is being forced to lower their prices and there will be no subsidies or tax handouts. The program goes into effect Aug. 27.
“Instead, we are launching the Buck a Beer Challenge. We are putting the challenge out there for every brewer big and small that’s all 260 brewers in Ontario – bring your price down to a dollar in time for Aug. 27. Those that get there first will be recognized throughout the year.”
Participating businesses will be offered incentives such as prime selling locations in LCBO stores and advertising in the store magazine.
Finance minister Vic Fedelli said there are no tax dollars being reduced to allow for the buck a beer.
Kyle Baldwin with the concept Loon Lager
“The tax portion of the beer is not being reduced. The premier is asking the beer producers to lower their price.”
Brewers are not required to charge less and the lower minimum price does not apply to draft beer sold in restaurants and bars, or include the bottle deposit. The minimum price at $1, from the current $1.25 applies to beer with an alcohol volume below 5.6 per cent.
Barley Days is already in the planning stages for the Buck a Beer Challenge with a new ‘Loon Lager’.
“We decided to take up the challenge,” said Kyle Baldwin, General Manager. “We think we can make it happen. So we’re going to find out on Aug. 27 on how the economics work out. Loon Lager is our concept in a 355ml can.”
Protesters outside Barley Days Brewery make their views known as politicians left.
Outside, the protesters had placards waving as the politicians were leaving the media event, they were bombarded with shouts of “shame on you”.
There were also those in the crowd of about 75 people who were there to congratulate Smith on the cancellation of the wpd industrial wind turbine project.
“The majority were Todd Smith supporters who attended to show appreciation for his success in getting White Pines cancelled,” said Gary Mooney. “There was a big cheer and lots of applause when he came out briefly to greet the crowd.”
Sarah Burn
“Education and social services programs are much more important than cheap beer, said Sarah Burn, who learned about the protest on Facebook. “I’m happy I was able to express myself. I hope that they see we have better priorities than buck a beer.”
“We held the space pretty good,” said Christine Renaud. “We gave them a hard time getting out. They knew they were not welcome. That was my favourite part… We have to have each other’s back and take care of each other.”
Renaud called the buck a beer a diversion from important issues like relieving poverty and progressive education.
“I really think Ford is insulting his base of good, working-class people who he is thinking care more about buck a beer than they are about their families, and doing well. The beer minimum was only $1.25. The whole idea is ridiculous.”
“I’m happy about buck a beer,” said a person in the crowd who declined to be identified.
A handful of people concerned about the cancellation of industrial wind turbines in the County and other energy projects also protested across the road.
Filed Under: Featured Articles • Local News
Barney – you ask a good question. To answer it, you will need to trace back through the conversation to discover how this topic was introduced into the comments on this article.
What does buck a beer have to do with “SIR JOHN A” ?
The only reason that John A. and his ilk thought that they were superior to aboriginal, chinese, black people and to the Irish was because he was part of the “privileged class” – meaning white, well educated, had money and was a protestant. They knew full well that what they were doing when imprisoning, starving people to death, and taking children from their parents was wrong. They did it because they had all the power to get away with it. These arguments of him being a man of his time, or that people had different values back then is nothing mare than making excuses for our past and not wanting to face our history honestly. No society back in the 1860’s condoned such actions, however, they often turned a blind eye to it because they could. It is time for Canada to face the fact that our history was not pure and white and we must at leas try record it accurately and deal with it honestly.
We learn from mistakes. That his how most of society felt at the time. We grow, we learn, we do better. It does not extinguish the past and that is the good part as well as the bad.
And the great John A Macdonald told the Commons: “When the school is on the reserve, the child lives with his parents who are savages; he is surrounded by savages, and though he may learn to read and write, his habits and training and mode of thought are Indian. He is simply a savage who can read and write.” Theres some history for ya something to be proud of eh…..
24 for $20.00 bucks in Quebec.
https://globalnews.ca/news/4386207/ontario-beer-tax-buck-a-beer/
Smoke and mirrors, Doug.
If they want the statue of Macdonald to stay up, I suggest putting information up with the whole truth.
Denial is not learning, and beer only makes the fog worse.
This question about whether to display John A’s statue is a complicated one – we need to consider some of the basics – he was Canada’s first PM and he did create the national railway connection – a necessity for uniting our country. He also created a clear line between Canadians and Americans as being two distinct nations – and he was a Father of Confederation. He also did a good job of keeping both French and English Canada together. So John A has all the necessary qualification to have a statue – he was no doubt a leader.
HOWEVER – he was also a racist, a bigot and the destroyer of people – he referred to indigenous people as being savages and planned a systematic way to exterminate them. While Supt. General of Indian Affairs(1878-87), MacDonald implemented a starvation policy which resulted in the extermination of over 30% of the aboriginal population. As our PM he also originated the Residential School System, a system that saw children forcibly removed from their families. His desire was to destroy any memory of aboriginal people in Canada. (And Canadians crinch when we read about Trump doing the same thing to the Mexican children.) John A also had a similar dislike for the Chinese – he used them and aboriginals in forced labour camps to build his railroad – thousands died of starvation, and of poor working conditions.
The fact that he was involved in the Great Pacific Scandal where it was shown he was taking kick-backs from the rich railroad people caused him to lose the election, but he returned years later for a second term. The fact is, our original great railroad was built on the genocide of innocent people, created by MacDonald. While John A. lined his pockets and drank merrily, many others died because of him. This should not be forgotten history.
To question the existence of John A’s statues across Canada is a needed conversation that Canadians need to have. For me, I could live with the statue – IF there was a “true” history of John A. displayed with it. The last thing we need is a false legion with a fabricated history as a Canadian symbol. That would be too American like – and John A. wouldn’t like that.
https://www.intelligencer.ca/news/local-news/warmington-father-of-confederations-statue-history-but-his-legacy-cant-be-erased/wcm/594a915a-5193-4c50-b652-9673f6e8e8a8
This is truly a great response from our province. To judge everyone 151 years ago and lay it all on Sir John A, is really wrong. If not for John we very likely would not have a Country to complain about!
Victoria, B.C. have removed their statue of Sir John A Macdonald. Our MPP Todd Smith, Ontario government house leader has written the mayor of Victoria on behalf of our Ontario government, requesting that the statute of our Father of Confederation be sent to Ontario, where it can be proudly displayed on our government property. Once again, good on him.
That was common belief and practice of society at that time. It’s history, we learn from it and make better humane decisions moving forward. Macdonald did a lot of good as well. Like most men and women, we all have our failures. Now, time for a beer.
Mr.Ford governs in the traditional style of white Christian colonial tyrants, ie: “no consultations, just keep your head down, and do what you’re told”. He’s busy trying to restore white Christian power, aka colonial terrorism, or rule by fear, while he keeps his beer drinking voters in a confused fog.
Meanwhile, 83,675 licenced lawyers in Canada are paralyzed with ethical confusion, unable to deal with the criminality of Canada’s federal government exposed by thousands of Canadian judges in Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Report. The Law Society of Upper Canada does not know how to move forward, ie: toward reconstructing an ethical Canada, one that denounces all sources and forms of terrorism.
Mr.Ford has made Canadian beer the equivalent of Roman bread used to buy off Roman mobs, as he tries to distract us from his dark agenda of derailing the important remedial work intended to heal Canada of Macdonald’s crimes against humanity. County Boy (?) Macdonald and his partners destroyed the lives of millions of Canadians, with child prisons where children were held hostage and abused daily, as a way of ensuring the subjugation of indigenous communities, while establishing white Christian dominance in the “Dominion of Canada”, with weaponized laws like the Indian Act.
Instead of revealing the awful truth about Canada’s terrorist history: British, domestic, and foreign, Ford intends to suppress it, and instead broadcast his political lies and distortions via Ontario News, a propaganda arm of white supremacists, to continue the false official narrative that has misled Canadians for 151 years.
Thousands of Canadian court cases taken in the aggregate prove beyond any doubt that Canada is guilty of crimes against humanity through the relgious persecution and abuse of hundreds of thousands of indigenous children. Canadian tax dollars were used to systematically abuse indigenous children on a national level by many Christian institutions. Over 150,000 indigenous children were physically and spiritually terrorized by a white Christian establishment that was incriminated by John A. Macdonald. Mr. Ford wants to hide and suppress the truth about Canada’s hidden criminal history before it becomes public knowledge, but here it is in it’s 3 stages until today:
a) British launch Chrisitan terrorism that takes North America.
b) Macdonald’s domestic terrorism of millions of indigenous Canadians
c) Canada’s participation in Washington’s violent terrorism in Muslim homelands to control their resources.