NDP says public should vote on liquor distribution plan

By

VICTORIA (NEWS1130) – NDP leader Adrian Dix says if the government is so keen to privatize our liquor distribution, it should campaign on the plan in 2013. The opposition leader doesn’t think the province has a mandate to sell it.

Adrian Dix says the province has not made a good business case for privatizing the warehouses and distribution of the LDB.

But he says if Christy Clark’s Liberals support the idea, they ought to put it to the voters in May of next year. “This has echoes of the HST, and if I was to give political advice, I would say the arrogance involved in deciding not just for this government but for the one after that and the one after that, on this question of liquor distribution, would not be the right course.”  

Dix says while they can do it, they don’t have a mandate to. “I think in a case where they’re making a case in March, a few weeks before the election to sign a ten-year contract, I think in that case where there’s substantial public opposition they should put it to the voters and let the voters decide. Because to date the Liberals really haven’t made any case for this privatization. Haven’t made any case for it.”

Labour Minister Margaret MacDiarmid has said if the winning company can’t save the province money, it won’t go through with the privatizing plan.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today