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Police statistics obtained by the Toronto Star show there have been more than 9,000 reported shoplifting incidents since 2014 at Toronto LCBO outlets; as of June 26, we were on track for nearly 6,000 in 2018 alone. The corporation insists its loss rate is “below industry standard,” but in Toronto at least, this is becoming ever harder to believe. Of the 100 most-targeted addresses for shoplifting in the provincial capital, the Star found fully half are now provincially owned liquor stores.

A great many reasonable people find this situation outrageous. I find myself among them. There are those who believe we ought not to worry about it at all, however, for reasons that mostly range from the specious to the bizarre.

Photo by Peter J Thompson/National Post

You can’t have LCBO employees pursuing and confronting thieves, these wise owls caution. Well no. Obviously. I’ve encountered no one who’s suggesting they should — though surely they should be allowed to follow and take down licence plates. (Some employees claim to have been reprimanded even for this.)

“We have increased our investigator expenditures, as well as CCTV technology (and) in-store deterrents,” says an LCBO spokesperson. I’d have thought that would mostly do the trick with the big-time main offenders, many of whom must surely be known to police. (One arrested LCBO thief ended up charged with Toronto’s first murder of 2018.)

My favourite argument not to sweat mass liquor theft came from retail consultant Stephen O’Keefe in the Star. He tried to assure us that it doesn’t drive up prices. “Retailers no longer increase their prices to cover the cost of shoplifting,” he explained. “The retail environment is too competitive, so they eat the loss, and stakeholders suffer.”