An Open Letter to Those Who Make Decisions on Such Things

To Whom In May Concern that Makes Decision on Such Things:

I write this letter to ask, nay beseech, you, on behalf of my taste buds, to loosen the government/beer store bi-nopoly on the sale of beer (heretofore referred to as "my precious.") In particular, my interests lie in growing the Ontario craft beer market, and having local wares more easily accessible.

I propose creating a tri-opoly with three featured players: the lcbo, which would import quality my precious from abroad, and the Beer Store which would mainly deal in "big beer." So far, not much has changed. But now pay attention here, this is the important part: The third opoly would be owned by Ontario's craft brewers themselves (a collective? a co-op?). They would share distribution and set up a series of shops throughout the province that would carry exclusively Ontario craft beer. The benefits of setting up this system are many, but here are a few:

• More business and wider distribution for the Craft brewers. This would help turn the little guy into the bigger guy. 
• Local is good.
• Fresh beer is good too.
• More choice for the consumer (me).
• The environment is good. Instead of hundreds of cars heading out to the country/outskirts of town to pick up their beer directly from the breweries, a few big trucks would deliver it to the stores.
• Maybe I wouldn't miss out on all the awesome limited quantity beers our brewers make because I can't get out to Etobicoke (cough cough 10 Bitter Years cough).
• It would push our outdated liquor laws further into the 20th century, and make us look much less lame to potential tourists.

There are more reasons than this, and more logical arguments too, but I have a full time job and a baby and I'm tired. Perhaps my loyal readers can help fill out this list? There's something that just doesn't sit right with me that it's easier to buy beer from germany than it is from a small brewery in Ontario. I feel much more pride pouring a beer from one of our great local breweries than I do a large brewery overseas. I have no ownership in that. 

I do feel ownership in Ontario's craft beer scene. Let's all work together to help me get my precious into my precious little hands (that last time, precious actually meant precious.)

Thank you very much,

Sincere Regards,

Brau

PS: When you do set up these little shops, please ensure one of them is in East York, a minimum of five blocks from my house. DM me for address details.