A budding Toronto entrepreneur has abandoned his challenge of the provincial legislation that gives the Beer Store a monopoly.

Michael Hassell, a lawyer and co-owner of Barge Craft Beer Distribution, a would-be independent retailer, said Monday he “obtained an external and expert legal opinion” on taking on the Liquor Control Act.

“The prospects of success are not good and it’s going to be too expensive,” Hassell said in an email.

“With a low chance of success and enormous costs, it is not feasible to ask people to fund the litigation. Therefore the court application will not continue,” he said.

Two weeks ago, Hassell had given the provincial government 60 days’ notice of an upcoming legal action before the Ontario Superior Court.

He had hoped the court would strike down the section of an Act dating back to 1927 that gives Brewers Retail — the formal name of the Beer Store — monopoly status as the only private firm allowed to sell beer to the public without brewing it on the premises.

Hassell’s manoeuvring was separate from a $1.4-billion class-action lawsuit filed by Burlington pub owner David Hughes against the Beer Store and the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. Jeff Newton, president of Canada’s National Brewers, the industry association representing the Beer Store, has said the class-action claim had “no merit” because no laws were broken.

Premier Kathleen Wynne’s government is expected to announce changes to the way beer is sold in Finance Minister Charles Sousa’s March budget.

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