Ontario beer drinkers are celebrating the arrival of six-packs in 58 grocery stores across the province but the victory appears relatively minor when you consider how long the issue has been on the table.

In 1984, Liberal MPP Don Boudria introduced a private member's bill to get beer and wine into convenience stores — and say goodbye to Ontario's "Victorian attitude."

The argument in Ottawa then — that it was more convenient across the river in Quebec where you could buy beer in wine at the dépanneur late into the night on any day of the week — continues to be echoed more than 30 years later.

Boudria was not pushing for beer sales at major stores or chains, instead arguing that small businesses would benefit from the right to sell it.

Today's Ontario government took a different route. By May 2017, an estimated 150 stores are expected to be stocked with beer, as long as the alcohol content is less than 7.1 per cent by volume.