Barley Days Brewery in Prince Edward County was the backdrop for Premier Doug Ford to hold to one of his campaign promises.
Addressing the media and a crowd of protesters, Ford announced that the buck-a-beer program will come into effect Aug. 27, just in time for the Labour Day weekend.
The current minimum price will drop from $1.25 to $1, according to the Premier.
Ford says he will not be using tax-breaks to get brewers to participate, rather the province will use incentives through the LCBO to encourage breweries to lower their prices.
“Limited time discounts, in-store displays and end of the aisles shelf extenders — or advertising in the LCBO flyers or newspaper inserts.”
Barley Days Brewery General Manager Kyle Baldwin says they hope to be offering a case of 24 beers for $24 soon.
“We were just trying to find something that was going to spark curiosity in our brewery again and I thought this was a great opportunity.”
Ford says he is trying to put money back in consumers pockets.
“They know they can’t be out there driving or being reckless. I have all the confidence in the people of Ontario to be responsible beer drinkers.”
The Premier was joined by Finance Minister Vic Fedeli and House Leader and MPP for Bay of Quinte Todd Smith at the morning news conference.
They were greeted by several dozen protesters, who gathered at the brewery, apaprently not pleased with the PC government’s cuts in Ontario.
Area resident Sarah Burn says the buck-a-beer announcement is a sham.
“It’s just a distraction so that nobody else pays attention to all the cuts to all the services and education programs.”
A sentiment shared by Prince Edward County resident Christine Reneaud.
“We know that people are living in poverty and we know that an instant fix for that would be to raise the Ontario works rate.”