A minor tweak to the way beer, wine, and spirits are sold in Ontario is on hold because more major reforms are in the hopper.

Premier Kathleen Wynne said Tuesday her government put a cork in its pilot project for supermarket LCBO kiosks due to broader changes on the horizon.

“It’s now become a much bigger discussion about what the distribution is or should be,” said Wynne.

“The fact is that once Ed Clark and his group started to look at the assets and look at the LCBO and by extension look at the Beer Store, the discussion opened up,” the premier said, referring to the former TD Bank chair who’s looking for ways to monetize provincial assets.

“So I think it makes sense that we wouldn’t take an isolated plan that we had previously and continue with it when there’s a much bigger discussion happening right now,” she said.

Her comments came after the Star disclosed the Liquor Control Board of Ontario had quietly shelved its much-hyped “Express Stores initiative.”

Finance Minister Charles Sousa had said last spring that the first kiosks would be in 10 grocery retailers by the end of 2014, but that deadline was extended.

Sousa said Tuesday that the landscape has shifted in the past year.

“We are looking at the full distribution of alcoholic beverages so change is coming,” the treasurer said.

“At the end it is about consumer choice. We recognize that consumers want more access. We’re looking at ways to improve upon that.”

Wynne, who has been touting changes to the privately owned Beer Store monopoly for months, said “it’s only responsible that we look at that whole discussion and figure out where the fairness is.”

“How do we make sure that the distribution is fair across the province? How do we make sure, for example, that craft breweries have the access — have the access that they haven’t necessarily had,” she said.

Asked if the kiosks could come back as part of Clark’s plan, Wynne was coy.

“I’m not going to jump ahead, but it is a bigger discussion now and I think we need to wait and get the recommendations from Ed Clark.”

Clark’s panel has recommended keeping the LCBO monopoly public while expanding its operations and charging the foreign-owned Beer Store some sort of franchise fee.

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They have also recommended the LCBO be allowed to sell 12-packs of beer instead of just six-packs. The more lucrative 12-packs and 24-packs cannot be sold at liquor stores and can only be purchased at the Beer Store, which is owned by Labatt, Molson, and Sleeman.

Currently, there are there are already 216 LCBO “agency stores” in rural Ontario that sell wine, beer, and spirits alongside groceries.

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