New Ontario government led by Ford plans to roll back minimum price of a bottle or can of beer by the end of August

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

After bringing a swift end to carbon pricing and scrapping one of the world’s first government-backed basic income pilots, Ontario’s new conservative government is pushing forward with one of its signature promises: dropping the price of a beer to a dollar.

Led by Doug Ford – the brother of the late Toronto mayor Rob Ford – Ontario’s new government announced Tuesday that it would introduce legislation to roll back the minimum price of a bottle or can of beer in Canada’s most populous province by the end of August.

“Ontario, the day you’ve been waiting for is finally here,” Ford told reporters. “We’re bringing back buck-a-beer to Ontario.”

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The minimum price – which was hiked from $1 to C$1.25 by the previous Liberal government in 2008 – will apply to beers that have less than 5.6% alcohol content.

It will be left to the province’s 260 brewers to decide whether they want to drop their prices, prompting some to question whether the legislation will actually amount to buck-a-beer as promised.

The People’s Pint, a brewery based in Toronto, said it would not be joining what it called a “race to the bottom” on Twitter. “We firmly believe that you really do get what you pay for,” the brewery wrote.

In order to encourage producers to lower their prices, Ford said his government would launch the buck-a-beer challenge, which would offer promotional programs, in-store displays and advertising to those who sell their beer at the minimum price.

Social scientists around the world have long pointed to Canada – the first country in the world to introduce minimum pricing on alcohol – to highlight the link between higher prices and lower rates of alcohol-related deaths and hospital admissions.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Doug Ford at the Caribbean carnival grand parade in Toronto at the weekend. Photograph: Canadian Press/Rex/Shutterstock

When asked about research suggesting that lower alcohol pricing could result in increased healthcare or policing costs for the province, Ford – whose populist style has drawn comparisons with Donald Trump – said he trusted consumers to make smart choices.

“We promised buck-a-beer and we’re delivering on our campaign promise,” he added. “We’re just trying to put money back in the consumer’s pockets.”

Since taking power earlier this year, Ford and his government have unleashed change at a dizzying pace: ending the province’s carbon pricing policy and moving to drop the price of gasoline by 10 cents, scrapping the current sex-education curriculum in favour of one that predates social media, smartphones and cyberbullying; and vowing to halve the number of city councillors in Toronto.

Last week, the Ford government reversed its promise to keep Ontario’s basic income pilot going. Andrea Horwath, the leader of Ontario’s New Democratic Party, slammed Ford for keeping his promises regarding beer while turning his back on the 4,000 residents who were relying on the unconditional payments to buy healthier food, access childcare or go back to school.

“His priorities are completely mixed up,” Horwath told reporters.

Her view was echoed by many on social media. “122 forest fires raging in northern Ontario and Ford’s priorities are attacking local democracy, cancelling #BasicIncome, climate-positive programs, comprehensive health and sex-ed, reducing mental health + addiction services and numbing us with #BuckABeer,” wrote the Toronto city councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam on Twitter.

Gabriella Learn (@gabriellafranny) Thank goodness for #BuckABeer or else we'd be sober enough to confront the fact that our education, reconciliation, and social assistance initiatives are being royally screwed. #cheers

Others pointed to more pressing needs across the province. “I don’t need a #BuckABeer, I need my fellow Canadians to have a #BasicIncome and to be proud to live in a nation that considers food security, and poverty more important than cheap beer.”

Another wrote: “Instead of a dollar a beer, how about dollar a day insulin supplies, dollar an hour day care, dollar an hour tuition, dollar a book, dollar a public transit ride.”