Island News: Alcohol, politics, and patronage

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I'm on vacation in PEI, as many of you know, and I thought I'd let you know what is currently the top story at The Guardian (the province's major newspaper -- which, according to its banner, "COVERS PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND LIKE THE DEW") website:

Major shake up coming at P.E.I. liquor commission

As expected, the appointment of a new commissioner, "one of the most coveted positions within the provincial bureaucracy," has generated controversy. The appointment is made by Cabinet (the Liberal government led by Premier Robert Ghiz), and the appointee is a current deputy minister, Brooke MacMillan.

In response, the Progressive Conservative opposition is calling it "a plum, patronage appointment."

Far be it from me to have much of an opinion on the matter, but I will say that the alcohol selection here is pretty bad.

There are some genuinely outstanding restaurants on the Island, and the food in general is fantastic, but the wine, beer, and spirits selection at the government-run liquor stores is nothing like what one finds not just in a major city like Toronto but even in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. There's almost no international beer to be found, and almost no Canadian wine (and we have some fine wine being made in Ontario and British Columbia). There are a few well-known international wines available, but not much variety, let alone quality. There's some decent scotch and whisky, but, again, not much variety. I'm enjoying the PEI-distilled grain vodka, but I'm waiting for the PEI-distilled potato vodka -- the liquor stores don't have any in at the moment, but, as you may know, the province is famous for its potatoes.

So whoever runs the liquor commission, and whether it's a patronage appointment or not, I just hope some effort is made to improve what is available to restaurants and, of course, to us, the consumers.

Not that I'm spending my vacation boozing it up or anything...