[kwoldtimer]

That Cohn article also touches on an aspect of the Beer Store monopoly that intrigues me. It apparently is run on a non-profit basis (although the numbers are not published), but the three controlling beer firms set the wholesale price of beer to the Beer Store. Normally, one would expect this to mean that the wholesale prices are jacked as high as possible, to maximize the producers' profits. And yet, it is claimed that Ontario's beer prices are the lowest in Canada (something I don't think that many people believe). Since I'm not much concerned by the retail price of beer, it leads me to wonder whether beer prices would even go up if the Province started charging the Beer Store a new royalty on sales.