Booze coming to corner stores

Beer, wine will be available ahead of schedule thanks to $225M payout to privately run Beer Store

- ROB FERGUSON AND ROBERT BENZIE

Premier Doug Ford, left, and Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy raise a drink Friday after announcing the expansion of alcohol sales in convenience stores.

Ontarians could be drowning their sorrows during a potential snap provincial election in the wake of Premier Doug Ford's liberalized booze sales.

Ford says there will finally be beer and wine in corner stores after Labour Day and Ontario's long-awaited liberalization of booze sales in supermarkets and big-box outlets should be completed by Halloween -after a $225-million payout to the privately run Beer Store.

"We are delivering on our commitment to give consumers in Ontario the choice and convenience every other Canadian enjoys, and we're doing so even sooner than we had originally promised," he said Friday at an Etobicoke gas bar variety store.

The surprise move gives the premier the flexibility to call a snap election in 2025 a year earlier than the scheduled June 2026 vote - because he will have delivered a key campaign pledge.

Ford repeatedly refused to commit to a 2026 election and pointedly left open the possibility of an early call while his Progressive Conservatives still enjoy a doubledigit poll lead over the opposition Liberals and New Democrats.

"I just want to get our agenda through," he coyly told reporters at the campaign-style announcement.

An election in the first half of next year would get the Tories in front of an expected October 2025 federal vote and give rookie Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie even less time to gear up.