Liquor and Lotteries claim that it refuses to sell alcohol to people who are intoxicated, and last year, employees at the Ellice store refused to serve such customers about 4,000 times.
According to Winnipeg police, alcohol abuse might be the ‘most taxing and common issue’ cops face on a daily basis.
The Addictions Foundation of Manitoba (AFM) says alcohol has moved into the unenviable position as Canada’s worst substance.
A report released in 2018 by the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction and the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research estimated alcohol cost Canadians almost $15 billion per year in terms of lost productivity, justice costs, and more.
Winnipegger, the recovering alcoholic wants Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries to introduce a policy that would allow store employees to refuse to sell alcohol to customers who are chronic alcoholics.
Ryan Martens, who started drinking when he was just 13 years old to cope with childhood trauma, said he was stunned when he read Crown’s response to a recent story.
An investigation revealed that Liquor Mart, located in the city center on Ellis, sold 103,553 bottles of London Westminster Canadian Apera - cheap sherry with a high alcohol content - during the three-year period from 2015 to 2017. If compared these sales to Liquor Mart in St. Vitale, which sold only 378 bottles in the same period.
Despite calls for Winnipeg Liquor Mart staff to react more aggressively in response to ongoing
daylight booze thefts, a loss prevention consultant says there are a number of reasons why that’s unlikely to happen. Most of the workers are simply afraid to intervene because they are scared for their own safety and life.
As police said, criminals just walk into the store, take the liquor and simply leave, guards do not try to stop them. Wednesday Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries had a statement go public, where they claim such incidents are getting out of hand and dangerous for employees and other store customers when criminal are being confronted. At some point, simple robbery can turn into a life-threatening situation if guards are involved, so in many cases, people just chose to do not intervene, to stay safe and alive.