Wildrose unveils '6-pack plan' to fix Alberta beer industry

Opposition Wildrose promises lower beer taxes in plan for Alberta beer industry

Image | beer glasses

Caption: The Wildrose party is promising lower beer prices for Albertans. (CBC)

It's a recurring Alberta political debate that sounds like a reality TV show: Beer Wars.
And it's back with another episode.
The Wildrose on Monday released a "6-Pack Plan for Beer Producers and Consumers" that tries to take the bubbles out of the NDP government's changes to the provincial beer tax system.
In July, the NDP announced a $1.25 per litre markup on all beer, eradicating the lower graduated markup rate previously accorded smaller brewers in three Western provinces.
That led to a suds spat between Premier Rachel Notley and Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall.
The NDP later announced a grant program to help small Alberta brewers that produce and sell up to 300,000 hectolitres annually. But brewers in other provinces who sell their products in Alberta were left with empty glasses — they don't qualify for the grant money.
The Wildrose calls its new scheme the "6-Pack Plan for Beer Producers and Consumers"(external link) and it reads like a keg-sized plan to fix all that "ales" the province's beer industry.
It would, among other things, lower beer taxes. It says the Wildrose would also encourage growth by "ending minimum capacity regulations and retroactive markup rates for small- and medium-sized breweries."
In a news release, Wildrose MLA Derek Fildebrandt said: "It is also really important that we protect Alberta consumers in this process and ensure that their choice is not limited by government actions."
Online critics asked the Wildrose to release more action plans:

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