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Almost ninety years after the death of Prohibition, Canadians are still wading through the red tape of temperance.

Like in Alberta, liquor inspectors can arbitrarily censor the entertainment at a licensed venue if they find it to be “bizarre, grotesque or offensive.”

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Or B.C. where a movie theatre was brought to the brink of bankruptcy after obtaining a liquor license, and then discovered that due to an obscure loophole in local liquor laws, it was no longer able to show movies.

And, despite much-publicized federal efforts to the contrary, in Quebec, Newfoundland and Saskatchewan, it is still technically illegal for a consumer to web-order a case of wine from their favourite Canadian winery.

While they seem ludicrous now, they are all laws that were laid down to keep Canadians out of their cups. Historically, when Canadians have sat down to figure out how to curb drunkenness, they have inevitably turned to the “dry” models of tight controls, high taxes and strict schedules regarding where, when and how alcohol can be purchased.