On this page are questions that I'd like to see LCBO answer, but probably cannot afford to pay for the information (at least until my allowance comes in!). These are questions I'd like to ask, not accusations. Accusations would only come once I had solid FOI information detailing wrongdoing.

more to come this winter!

Questions about LCBO Profits

- just what does LCBO include in their record profits? Are any of the "Levies" that they charge included in "profits"? Are these the same levies that the Provincial Auditor-General has warned may not be fully legal, and which may be deemed by the Supreme Court to be illegal taxes? If so would that mean that the LCBO has been reporting illegal collections as profit? If so how long has the Minister responsible known about this and continued to build Record Profits on the collection of illegal taxes?

- Does LCBO include amounts related to sales from other businesses, where they had absolutely no part in handling a bottle or talking to a customer (such as an Ontario winery selling a non-VQA wine to a restaurant)? If so, how much does this take in?

- Do sales through the duty-free stores come into profits? How about the 6% fee charged to hotels and restaurants on sales? - Does the Environmental Levy contribute to LCBO profits inasmuch as they collect more than they pay out to the Blue Box program? If so, how much of LCBO profits are due to this particular scheme?

- Just what other sources of revenue are routed through LCBO? How about sales through the consignment program to a restaurant or anything else which does not involve bringing alcohol in the back door and selling it through the front?

Just how "Green" is LCBO

- Are wine tetra packs really recyclable? By this I mean are any of them actually, physically recycled into a post-consumer product? If so, what percentage of these were recycled into a post-consumer product in Canada? Did any of them have the recycling done in this country?

- Are there any health concerns with long-term storage (intentional or otherwise) of wines in tetra packs? Is there any evidence of bisphenol A or any other substance which is or could develop into something of a toxic nature?

How about similar questions about plastic bottles? Does that old jug of Rum which has been sitting on your bar for 12 years half-full have anything unpleasant or unhealthy in it when you pour your annual rum and eggnog on Xmas?

- Do all LCBO plastic and Tetra packaged wines have expiry or best-before dates? If not, why not?

Other Questions

- Does LCBO follow all the normal protocols that the average citizen would expect in their day-to-day business? For example, when LCBO outsources a job of any kind (let us say hiring outside lawyers), is there a policy about competitive bids? If so, is it rigorously applied? Is it in any way possible to be a "Friend of the management" and get a contract to sell something to or do something for LCBO? Who is watching this??

- Since 2000, have any trips made by LCBO employees to foreign locales been funded by non-LCBO sources? If so, who paid the bill, who was sent, and has there been any change in the sales via LCBO of products from that supplier or country since then? Does LCBO have any policy forbidding or controlling employees in general to have their travel, sustenance or accomodation paid for by suppliers?

- Just how many hours per week or year do the very top executives put in at LCBO Head Office? How much time is spent in consultation with important stakeholders on the golf course or at the ball game? If any who is paying the green fees or admissions?

- LCBO often quotes the awards they win for retailing. Is it true that the major prize awarded by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce was awarded by a person who at about the same time was reappointed to the Board of Directors of the LCBO? If so, am I the only person to see a conflict here?

- Has LCBO been discussing resistance to changing the Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act, 1928, with anyone in any other Provincial Liquor Authority?

- What percentage of the total shelf space in all LCBO stores combined was controlled by the 10 biggest LCBO suppliers in 1990? 1995? 2000? 2005? 2009? What portion of the critical shelving in the 20 biggest stores (best two shelves at eye level) was so controlled in each year?

- What policies did LCBO inititate to satisfy their commitments under the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Government, Grape Growers of Ontario and Wine Council of Ontario concerning the short crop of 2005. This document is online at the Ontario Viniculture Association website. Sections 4 and 5 are of special interest, and this was signed by Chair Brandt.

- In the Memorandum above LCBO also promises to not identify wines with less than 30% Ontario content as Ontario wine. This says that they WILL identify those with 30% or more as Ontario. In view of the recent public controversy about Cellared in Canada I'd like to see the LCBO's official policy about what can be described as "Ontario Wine", and as to what they will actually count in their annual statistics as "Ontario Wine" or "Domestic Wine" when they make their bold support statements in their annual reports. Is it true that they have been counting Cellared in Canada wines from British Columbia, which can be 100% imported, as "Domestic Wine"? Did they count the 99% imported content wines into "Domestic Wine" or "Ontario Wine" sales in the years in which they were on the shelf? Can LBCO actually determine what amount of Ontario-grown wine they actually sell?