The LCBO has indefinitely shelved plans to put express kiosks in Ontario grocery stores, a spokesperson has told the Star.

The Liberal government told the liquor agency to halt the long-awaited addition of booze outlets in supermarkets as the province overhauls the way beer and liquor is sold across Ontario, the government-run liquor agency said.

“In light of the work currently being done by the premier’s advisory council on government assets, the provincial government has asked the LCBO to put a hold on the LCBO Express Stores initiative,” spokesperson Heather MacGregor confirmed on Monday.

The Ministry of Finance ‎said the move made sense.

“The government will consider the Express Stores initiative once the council has completed its work,” a senior finance official said late Monday.

The blue-ribbon panel on monetizing provincial assets, led by former TD Bank chair Ed Clark, has recommended keeping the LCBO in public hands while expanding its operations and charging the Beer Store franchise fee.

Finance Minister Charles Sousa generated a lot of buzz when he announced the pilot program last spring to put express liquor kiosks in 10 grocery retailers by the end of 2014. The government missed that deadline, but said at the time that plans were still in the works to have some installed in 2015.

After the concept was unveiled last April, grocery stores had to apply to the province by May 9, 2014, for a chance to install the store within a store, which would sell a wide variety of beer, spirits and wine, including craft beers and VQA wines.

Critics found the terms and geographic restrictions of the kiosks strict. Grocery stores were to be responsible for all construction costs, lighting and power, and needed to use signage and designs up to LCBO specifications, according to the request for proposal.

The LCBO told the Star in November that it was in talks with only three retailers in Toronto, Mississauga and London, but had not yet completed deals or revealed exact supermarket locations where booze would be sold.

“The LCBO was in the process of finalizing lease agreements with (the three) host retailers,” MacGregor said Monday. “These negotiations are now on hold. Respective retailers have been notified.”

There are already 216 LCBO agency stores in rural Ontario that sell spirits and suds alongside groceries, but none has been allowed in urban centres to date.

Two weeks ago, Premier Kathleen Wynne quashed the idea of Quebec-style beer sales in Ontario variety stores, despite promising improved access for Ontario consumers this spring by changing the private Beer Store monopoly.

Wynne told the Star’s Robert Benzie in December that Ontarians can “expect some change” in the new year to the way booze is sold in the province, including a rethink of the government’s deal with the foreign-owned Beer Store.

But she did not rule out the possibility of beer being sold in supermarkets like Loblaws and big-box retailers like Costco.

Clark’s panel also recommended the government-owned LCBO be allowed to sell 12-packs of beer instead of just six-packs. The lucrative 12-packs and 24-packs cannot be sold at liquor stores.

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The province is still exploring the panel’s recommendations and Sousa is to formally reveal the government’s overhaul of beer and liquor sales in the March budget.

Progressive Conservative finance critic and Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli said: “The whole exercise is just a cash grab. It’s not designed to make it a better experience for the customer, or to lower prices.

“I think it will be a revenue overhaul that won’t be noticeable to consumers,” he added.