07-02-2006, 05:54 AM
Quote:The Beer Stores are cool in that they usually stock pretty much everything under the sun, but I think I'd prefer it if other private stores were allowed to sell alcohol as well. Note that this is a purely Ontario thing. Other provinces have their own liquor laws. For example, in Quebec the legal drinking age is 18 and you can purchase alcohol in every mom and pop corner store and most supermarkets. Not so in Ontario. The Beer Store is heavily regulated by the province and is owned by the brewers. The only stores allowed to sell "hard" liquor are owned entirely by the province. It's a really screwy system that works, but is a most bizzarre business practice when viewed from the outside.
Very interesting, I wasn't aware that The Beer Store was an Ontario Province only enterprise. I've been to Quebec (Montreal and Quebec City), as well as parts of Newfoundland and P.E.I., but that was roughly 10 years ago and drinking was many years off. In New Hampshire (where my parents live, and where I am currently spending the summer) there is a similar situation as far as hard liquor. All hard liquor can only be sold in state owned State Liquor Stores. The State Liquor Stores also sells wine, but not beer. Supermarkets and convience stores may purchase rights to sell Wine and Beer, but never liquor.
The upshot of our State Liquor stores is the majority of the income goes directly into funding our school systems. I'm a bit rusty on the current state of New Hampshire educational funding, but as of about 5 years ago New Hampshire ranked one of the lowest in states accepting federal funding for public schools. By generating funding in state, we were able to achieve a high level of freedom in our schools. The result was some very strong school systems in a sparsely populated state. It's nice to see money for a "vice" be turned into a "virtue":)
Quote:I've vacationed at Blue Mountain when I was younger and it's a really nice place. I used to live in Midland (south-eastern tip of Georgian Bay) which is quite close to Collingwood. It's great in the summer, and if you like snow it's awesome in the winter.
The Georgian Bay Area is incredibly beautiful from the brief experience I've had there. Reminds me a lot of the small coastal communities in Maine where I spent a lot of my childhood.
Quote:The required passport for Canada-US travel is a bummer. It works both ways too. I used to be able to visit the US with a valid Ontario driver's license or at most a birth certificate, but now I need a passport. This is a pity. It used to be like we were renting apartments in the same building and gave each other keys and free access to each other's pads, but lately we seem to have changed the locks and don't allow each other in unless they use the secret knock and show ID. It's such a great thing to boast that we share the longest undefended border. I hope that continues to be the case.
While we were there my friend had to renew her Canadian passport, which of course involved taking a new picture. I got a laugh out of the rule that no one may smile in their Canadian Passport picture. Granted this makes sense because it is easier to ID people. But I found it funny to know such a warm and inviting people had to hide their smiles:)
Cheers,
Munk