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| 28.10.2013, 20:27 - fenpxsli - Pfeifenkopp - 205 Posts Ernie Eves says LCBO sale won't be easy Former Conservative premier Ernie Eves says the cashstrapped Ontario government will have a difficult time getting a decent price for the Liquor Control Board, an agency that generates billions in profits the Liberals haven't ruled out selling. Facing a $24.7billion deficit, the biggest within the province's history, the government has hired two banks to review assets such as Hydro One and the LBCO. The latter, which has 610 stores, surrended $1.4 billion in profit towards the government last spring, the 15th straight record profit. "Obviously (the LCBO) brings an enormous return to the federal government, so you'd need to get a hell of a lot of cash for that should you sold it," Eves told The Canadian Press within an interview. "I chuckled a few days ago after i read a figure of $10 billion since i think that's low for an asset that almost, arguably, in perpetuity brings a minimum of $1.5 billion annually towards the owner. Selling the LCBO would be a key promise that helped propel the Conservatives to power in 1995, a party more philosophically aligned with privatization and smaller government than the Liberals. However, the Tories backed from the idea after neglecting to get any offers that would have amounted to some great deal for taxpayers, something the Liberal government may also discover, said Eves. In 2005,canada goose livigno parka, the Liberals generate a panel to examine booze sales, which unanimously recommended that the government withdraw from retail and wholesale operations and implement a licensing system for the retailing and wholesaling of beverage alcohol in Ontario. However, the Liberals quickly rejected the recommendation, saying it was their "strong view the public is better with the continued ownership from the LCBO." The Liberal's latest review of assets appears to mirror almost exactly what the Conservatives did in 200102, said Eves, who cautioned against unloading an income generating agency like the LCBO just to help trim the deficit. "There's nothing wrong with taking a look at your various options, however i don't believe,canada goose outlet review, like a general principle, you ought to be selling assets that leave a great deal of money only for coping with an inyear deficit problem," he said. "The issue is: What exactly are you likely to do in order to control your spending in next year's budget?" The Liberal government won't likely follow through then sell the LCBO this time either, predicted Henry Jacek, a political science professor at McMaster University in Hamilton. Governments rarely get the money they're searching for in an asset sale, he explained. "The likelihood of you winding up better off financially is extremely, very slim,doudoune canada goose, (so) a government would actually only do it for ideological reasons," said Jacek. "Politicians are entitled like others to change their brains, but exactly what the political leaders need to do is explain themselves within the next election and convince the electorate they did what's right once they changed their mind." Premier Dalton McGuinty feels he has a duty to explore options such as selling the LCBO to help get the province back into the black, said government sources. "Things have changed since 2005 also it could be irresponsible for all of us to say we won't take a look at it," said one Liberal source. "We need to make sure the lines of economic the government is within work and that the rates of return are like our investments in healthcare and education." Advocates of selling the LCBO to private investors point to Alberta, which privatized its liquor sales in the early 1990s, a move which supporters say led to increased selections minimizing prices. However, that just happened in Alberta's big cities, said a former Conservative advisor who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "Service to people, particularly outside of Calgary and Edmonton, really suffered," said the advisor. There is no shortage of prospective buyers if the province decides to sell the LCBO, said Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, who added large pension funds regularly knock on the door looking to purchase Crown assets. "We routinely get people who come to us who say 'we'd like to buy this or we'd like to purchase that' and that we routinely thank you for the interest but no thanks," he said. One possible roadblock to selling the LCBO is its 6,000 unionized workers,canada goose online, who warn that privatizing liquor sales is akin to slaughtering" the goose that annually lays golden eggs for Ontario taxpayers. "In dozens of communities around Ontario, the LCBO is a source of employment and a destination retailer that draws other retail businesses," said Warren Thomas, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union. The asset review may also have an effect Conservative strategy throughout the 2011 election, said a Liberal source. If the government rejects the thought of asset sales after getting expert advice it might allow it to be tougher for Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak to campaign on the promise to privatize the LCBO or other provincial assets, the source said. |