Remaining SLGA liquor stores to close

In the speech from the throne Wednesday afternoon, the Saskatchewan government made a small note that it intends to shut down its remaining liquor stores.

“It’s not a core business of government, in our view. We’ve seen private stores that have been operating for decades now under various governments of various stripes in the province, and we’re going to be exiting that business,” Premier Scott Moe said earlier Wednesday.

Moe pointed to cannabis stores as an example, as all of the stores in the province are privately owned and operated.

“We want to focus our efforts as a government on what people view as the core business of government. That’s offering health-care services, building new health-care facilities, education, highways, those types of things,” said Moe.

There are 34 SLGA liquor stores still operating in the province. Minister Responsible for the SLGA Lori Carr said a plan will be rolled out in the coming days, including the number of employees that will be laid off.

Carr said the SLGA will work with employees and unions to find a workforce adjustment plan.

“There’s opportunities out there, obviously. The new licences are going to be sold; there’ll be job opportunities there. And the general economy in Saskatchewan right now is very attractive for people looking for employment,” she said.

Carr doesn’t expect there to be a net cost to the plan.

“As we look at the divesting of retail obviously that comes with the selling of permits and the sale of the buildings that we have in place right now, those should more than offset any costs,” explained Carr.

The minister doesn’t believe any communities will be without services after the closures and she expects all of the permits that will go up for sale to be sold.
However, the NDP thinks this is a bad time for such a move.

“We are living through a generational affordability crisis right now. People are struggling to find good-paying jobs … By my estimates and numbers, that’s about 350 good-paying, living-wage jobs that will no longer be,” explained Nathaniel Teed, the NDP’s newest MLA and the party’s critic for the SLGA.

Teed wants to know the government’s plan for a transition, helping employees find other work, and how it’s going to backfill the loss of revenue.

“I think this government is hugely out of touch for planning to shut down and planning to lay off these workers,” said Teed.

In response to the Sask. Party’s announcement, the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour has announced it’s organizing a protest outside the legislature at 11 a.m.

They say this move will eliminate hundreds of jobs and that the government is doing nothing to help workers make ends meet while the cost of living is skyrocketing.