TORONTO -- The foreign-owned Beer Store consortium denies it is trying to head off being charged a government fee for its virtual monopoly on beer sales by offering to open up ownership to all Ontario-based brewers.
"This is not related to that at all," said Beer Store spokesman Jeff Newton.
The Beer Store has been listening to brewers and its customers, and has been working for months on the revamped ownership structure, added Newton.
"We've been hearing from small brewers for a while and we've been hearing from beer drinkers and doing research with consumers," he said. "We've taken all of that feedback in and it's all factored into the decision-making that led us to today."
Ontario brewers that sell more than five million litres a year would pay $1,000, and smaller brewers $100, to become owners and get a Class E or Class F share in the Beer Store.
Ontario-based brewers are also being offered a total of three seats on the 15-member board of directors of the Beer Store. Molson and Labatt would each have five seats on the board and Sleeman two seats.
"With those three seats they get a say in decision-making and governance of the business on all the operational and financial policy decisions, so there's a voice that they now get at the table," said Newton. "And when they come in as owners, they'll be treated financially the exact same way as the large brewers are treated."
The Beer Store said small Ontario brewers that sell fewer than one million litres a year will be exempt from capital costs for opening new stores and from pension obligations. The small brewers will also pay no listing fee for stocking two of their products at the five Beer Stores closest to their brewery.
"Those policies will also get brewers greater access, and you don't have to be an owner to get those changes," said Newton.
An advisory panel chaired by former TD Bank CEO Ed Clark recommended the province charge the Beer Store for its monopoly on beer sales, saying there was a clear value that could be auctioned off if the brewers won't pay up.
Finance Minister Charles Sousa's office issued a release Wednesday saying Clark's advisory panel would consider the Beer Store's ownership offer "in the context of its work," which will be completed before the spring budget.
"In the fall economic statement, we expressed support for Ed Clark's initial recommendations to improve transparency at the Beer Store, provide Ontarians with a fair share of profits and extend the sale of 12-packs of beer into LCBO stores," said Sousa's press secretary Susie Heath.
Premier Kathleen Wynne also said in a year-end interview with The Canadian Press that the relationship between the Beer Store consortium and the LCBO looked unfair and would "absolutely" be changed.
The Beer Store, the commercial name for Brewers Retail, was owned by a consortium of Ontario-based brewers when it was set up in 1927, but is now owned by Molson-Coors of the United States, AB InBev of Belgium and Sapporo of Japan. It operates 448 retail stores across Ontario.
