I love reading liquor regulations as much as the next guy. More maybe. So, I was thrilled (thirlled!) to see that Ontario had passed Ont. Reg. 116/10 last Saturday. It comes with the exciting title "Minimum Pricing of Liquor and Other Price Matters" and, boy oh boy, is it ever about a bunch of matters. I wrote about the connection between legal regulation and cultural identity in my chapter of Beer And Philosophy and here is what I see when I read good old 166/10:

• s. 11(1)(3) states "no price increase shall go into effect in the month of December" which is great but does seem a bit weird. It is the governments little present to dipsomaniacs? Why not raise prices to meet rising demand?
• under s.1(1) “draft beer” only qualifies as "draft beer" because it's for sale in a container that has a capacity of 18 litres or more. What other substance obtains a characteristic due to the container? Why is the size chosen nowhere near either the gallon or the firkin or a multiple of ten? What weird system of measurement is being referenced?
• 5.6% seems to be a magic number in relation to the strength of beer in Ontario but, as you all know, that is because of the Table that is set out in section B.02.132 of Division 2 of the Federal Food and Drug Regulations, C.R.C., c. 870. Right? Anything over the magic number must be labeled as "strong" or even "extra strong" when it hits 8.5%.
• s. 11 also states that it takes two weeks for a price change to occur at the Brewer Retail except for the lead up to Canada Day on 1 July in which case applications for price change need to be in by June 14th. Why do we care? What do the extra 2 or 3 days before the national holiday mean?
• According to section 19, both the Queen and NATO get cheaper hooch. I once had a pal who had an embassy's credit card through his job and can confirm that this is a good thing.
• Under 19(2) and 19(3) it appears that, unlike wine or spirits, there is no discount for beer even if it will soon become unsellable because of age or shelf life. We don't need no half-off skunked beer.

So many cultural questions arising out of one little liquor board regulation. The great and good get a break. The innocent pay full for skunky beer. Fair? Maybe not. The law? Sure is.