“Unintended consequences” leading to higher beer prices: CTF

You may have noticed the bottom line on your beer bill has gone up lately.

But it’s not just because of the Alberta government’s beer tax hike on out of province brewers.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has received emails which show Molson raised prices on its discount beers to “protect profitability”.

CTF Alberta Director Paige McPherson says it’s a case of unintended consequences, but adds the NDP should have seen this coming.

“The government touts its beer tax hike and subsidies as a positive for small, local breweries but in reality they’ve made it easier for large beer companies to raise their prices.”

She says this is a clear example of government legislation picking winners and losers.

“The smallest set of province craft breweries, because of the Alberta beer tax hike, saw their tax rate jump from 20 cents a litre to $1.25 a litre overnight. So that’s a massive tax increase, that means about three dollars on a pack of six beers from out of province.”

McPherson says in the end, the bottom line is the majority of consumers will end up paying more for the beer they like.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today