Ontario grocery stores can start selling ready-to-drink cocktails on Thursday after the Ford government moved up the start date by two weeks despite demands from striking LCBO workers for the province to roll back plans to expand liquor sales.
It marks the first step in the weakening of the provincial Crown liquor retailer’s monopoly over hard alcohol sales, with the province planning to allow all convenience and grocery stores to offer RTDs by the end of October. The moves comes as a strike has shuttered LCBO locations across the province since July 5, with negotiations stalled and no signal when stores will reopen.
