[perardi]

As a Canadian and a French citizen

If I may hazard a guess: Quebecois?

I lived in Toronto for a few years, with the occasional trip to Montreal. I definitely noticed a cultural difference between the provinces—Quebec was rather less stressed out, whereas Ontario is just as tight-assed Protestant as the Midwest. (Maybe more so. Can’t buy wine at a grocery store? Raw uncut Calvinism.)

[frosted-flakes]

You can buy most types of alcohol at grocery stores now. You have always been able to buy wine at some grocery stores like Zehrs or Loblaws, though it was in a separate store-within-a-store. LCBO and The Beer Store no longer have a duopoly on alcohol sales, but I think it was just fine when they did.

[randomdata]

Brewers Retail was a reasonable solution coming out of prohibition when it was jointly owned by all of Ontario's brewers, balancing their needs with the needs of consumers along with the needs of those still worried about the end of prohibition. However, it should have only been considered a short-term solution.

By the time mergers and acquisitions left it to be owned completely by foreign interests, all while Ontario's emerging craft beer scene were prohibited from inclusion, there was absolutely no excuse for it anymore. How the 2015 Master Framework Agreement got signed continues to boggle the mind.

Rural Ontario has allowed the sale of alcohol (all kinds) in grocery and corner stores since the 1960s. It is amazing how slow the rest of the province is to catch up. It took until the year 2000 for Toronto to fully let go of being dry.

[jbrun]

Definitely agree.