Ford slammed over price of booze deal

Opposition leaders question premier's decision to spend $225M despite health-care concerns

- ROBERT BENZIE

While Doug Ford maintains it will cost $225 million to end the "master framework agreement" this fall with the Beer Store, critics argue the tab could ultimately be three or four times higher.

Under fire for what opposition rivals charge is a "billion-dollar booze boondoggle," Premier Doug Ford is firing back.

Ford is defending his decision to spend hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayers' money to liberalize alcohol sales a little more than a year earlier than scheduled.

While Ford maintains it will cost $225 million to end the "master framework agreement" this fall with The Beer Store, owned by Labatt, Molson and Sleeman, critics argue the tab could ultimately be three or four times higher.

That's due to an additional $375 million in rebates to the Beer Store as well as foregone tax revenue and a 10 per cent discount for the retailers that will buy products from the LCBO, which could cost the provincial liquor monopoly $150 million a year.