Retail Alcohol Monopolies: Public Opinion

Public Opinion

Ontario residents are very supportive of a monopoly-based retail system and related control measures. Research focusing on public opinion over the past 10 years  has indicated that Ontarians continue to be aware of and concerned about the social, health, legal and economic consequences of alcohol abuse and continue to support interventions and controls that will reduce alcohol-related risks and harms (Room et al., 1995b; Giesbrecht & Greenfield, 1999; Giesbrecht et al., 2001).

Of specific relevance are recent surveys of representative samples of Ontario adults, which showed that 73% of Ontario adults were opposed to the privatisation of retail alcohol sales.  Most felt there were already enough, or too many, places to buy alcohol in their communities and 79% of the public does not want alcohol sold in corner stores  (Anglin et al., 2001; see also Anglin et al., 2003).

When opposing privatisation, some respondents may be reflecting a positive response to public relations initiatives, but this is not the full story.  When responses to several questions are considered together, it is clear that the Ontario public strongly supports a balanced approach where access to alcohol is controlled by a government-run monopoly. Furthermore they find current access to alcohol convenient and the majority are only are a few minutes away from the nearest alcohol outlet. In general, public opinion does not favour increased marketing of alcohol products or greater access to alcohol.

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