The Manitoba Liquor Control Commission is pulling Kingsgate Reserve Sherry completely out of the Thompson Liquor Mart after a meeting last month in Winnipeg with Mayor Tim Johnston.
It had been off the shelves, but still available for purchase upon request at the Thompson Liquor Mart since Johnston first raised the issue in a telephone conversation with Al Roney, director of retail sales for the MLCC, who grew up in Thompson, in mid-November.
Lou Morissette, a citizen appointee on the public safety committee, and former MLCC liquor inspector in Thompson, had alerted Johnston to the sale of Kingsgate Reserve Sherry in Thompson in an e-mail. Morissette resigned form the MLCC effective July 3. He retired from the RCMP here as a staff sergeant in August 2007.
Kittling Ridge Estate Wines & Spirits' Kingsgate Reserve Sherry "has been listed in Manitoba since May 2009 and was put into the Thompson Liquor Mart on Oct. 1," Susan Harrison, internal communications co-ordinator for the MLCC, said earlier. "It is currently available in 43 Liquor Marts across the province," she added.
Make that 42.
"The product is off the shelves and as it only sold a very few bottles over the eight to 10 weeks it was available it will be removed from the store all together," Roney told the Thompson Citizen.
Kingsgate Reserve is a premium, medium dry sherry, barrel aged in oak for extra smoothness. Made from a wine base of Ontario Muscat, the wine is fortified with brandy to bring the alcohol content up to 20 per cent alcohol per volume.
"The City of Thompson forwarded us a concern about this sherry," Harrison said last Nov. 19. "Because we have a positive working relationship with the city, we have decided to remove the sherry from our shelves until we have further discussions with the mayor and resolve the concern. Therefore, it is currently unavailable for purchase in Thompson."
Fortified London Westminster Sherry, which is also 20 per cent alcohol per volume, remains on the shelves of the Thompson Liquor Mart.
Johnston met Jan. 20 with Roney on the issue of Kingsgate Reserve Sherry, but also other broader alcohol issues here in Thompson.
The mayor said in an interview Feb. 1, while he "doesn't like prohibition" he thinks the decision to remove Kingsgate in the right one. "There are other products already available in that price range," he noted. "It was consensual. We've worked in good faith with the MLCC on this, but it's not the only issue."
A recent Thompson Citizen online poll question that asked readers "should the MLCC remove Westminster Sherry, also at 20% alc./vol., from its shelves in Thompson along with Kingsgate Reserve Sherry?" drew 271 responses with 82 per cent voting to remove it completely and 18 per cent voting no.
The MLCC is an arms-length provincial Crown corporation. Around $229.2 million was returned to the provincial government from the MLCC in the 2009 fiscal year. At its annual general meeting at the Mystery Lake Motor Hotel last Sept. 1, Roney said the MLCC is committed to working with the City of Thompson to promote social responsibility and make the downtown part of the city a safe place to be.
Roney said the MLCC takes social responsibility very seriously, and has undertaken educational programs like With Child, Without Alcohol and Be Undrunk, which are promoted throughout the year at liquor marts, licensed premises and on the radio, television and in print media.
Roney added that social responsibility also includes working with communities to address specific concerns they might have. The MLCC has been working with the City of Thompson, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO) as well as the RCMP as a partner in the city's downtown strategy.
He said the MLCC has also implemented a number of measures to address the issues of public intoxication, violence and bootlegging. The MLCC has partnered with the City of Thompson to bring forth the Downtown Ambassador program; has worked with the Healthy Communities Working Group, which promotes the practices of universal barring and the Westminster sherry bottle return program; has helped with the Thompson Downtown Revitalization program and has put in new security, lighting and completed renovations at the MLCC location in Thompson.
"We have provided financial assistance to establish the Downtown Ambassadors program, we have provided improved lighting and security around the liquor mart, and we have implemented maximum bottle purchases at both the liquor mart and liquor vendors in Northern communities to address bootlegging," Roney said. "This was a major initiative and it didn't come without substantial cost to the MLCC and lost revenue, but that shows our dedication."
Customers in Thompson are allowed to purchase a maximum of four 375 ml bottles, six 750 ml bottles, six 1140 ml bottles and two 1750 ml bottles daily. Roney said that policy saw the MLCC sell 30,000 less units of whiskey in Thompson in 2008 compared to 2006.
