Sask. Liquor & Gaming Authority

Our publicly-run liquor stores help keep our families and communities safe. SLGA is committed to selling alcohol in a socially-responsible manner. Public liquor store workers check IDs of anyone who looks 25 years or younger. The government has licensed private wine stores in Regina and Saskatoon, opening the door to further privatization of liquor sales.

Privatizing liquor sales. What's the bottom line?

Keeping our kids safe

Mother's Against Drunk Driving -- MADD Canada -- is dedicated to reducing alcohol-related harm. It has concluded that private liquor retailers are more likely than public liquor store workers to sell alcohol to those who should not have it. "A young clerk working in a convenience store is much more vulnerable to pressure to sell alcohol to an underage peer than a trained and experienced employee of a government liquor store. "Similarly, a young clerk in a corner store is less likely to refuse service to a belligerent, intoxicated customer who demands that the clerk sell him alcohol." From Provincial Liquor Boards: Meeting the best interests of Canadians, MADD Canada Policy Paper 2009 According to MADD - Small businesses have "a strong financial incentive not to refuse sales. "It's harder on a small business - that needs to make a profit to survive - to turn away a customer. It is much easier for a large, public institution to bear the financial burden of not selling liquor to someone who should not have it." A Calgary Police Service report Liquor Stores and Crime, stated that the need to make a profit may pressure private store owners into "selling to underage youth."

Keeping our public services strong

Revenue generated by public liquor sales goes back to government to help fund valuable services like schools, hospitals and roads. Last year, liquor sales contributed $196 million to the public purse. Saskatchewan people will lose this revenue if liquor sales are privatized.