TORONTO

Ontarians will have to dig deeper to get higher.

The minimum price that they pay for booze is on the way up.

The Ontario government says it sets bottom prices for all beverage alcohol products to promote social responsibility.

“Minimum prices are maintained to discourage immoderate consumption, especially among the most vulnerable, such as younger drinkers,” a Ministry of Finance statement sent out Friday says.

As of March 1, the cheapest spirits will rise by 50 cents on a 750mL bottle - to $23.90 from the current $23.40.

That two-four pack of beer will set an Ontarian back a minimum of $29.35, instead of the current basement price of $28.80.

Prices at the beer store will also be adjusted upwards to reflect inflation, the government says.

Wine will not be sold for less than $5.90 a 750 mL bottle, up 5 cents, but the LCBO doesn’t offer any at that low price anyway.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said the provincial auditor general has recently criticized the LCBO for not using its mass buying power to - if not keeping prices low for customers, at least to make higher profits for the provincial treasury.

“Instead, they’re reducing our purchasing powers as consumers, which seems to me to be quite opposite of what they should be doing,” she said. “If what we’re trying to do is find sources of revenue, sources of revenue can be found in more places than the consumer’s pocket.”

Tory MPP Peter Shurman said this is a tax hike, one made possible by the provincial government’s virtual monopoly on the sale of alcohol.

“You’ve got to stop putting the squeeze to people,” he said. “Alcohol is one of those guilty pleasures that a lot of people enjoy and in times like these maybe we just need a little latitude.”

The provincial government says about 10% of spirits are priced at the lowest possible price.

The Ontario government first introduced its annual inflationary increase in 2009, killing the then popular buck-a-bottle beer.

The government says Ontario’s overall beverage alcohol prices are still the lowest in Canada.