I am having a nice glass of beer. Belgian beer as it turns out. I was trying to read Pete Brown's series on "Answering the Neo Prohibitionists" but I am reflecting on how nice it is to live in a country where there really isn't any organized political outcry against beer as in the UK or any shock and surprise when our leaders have a beer. Nor is there the need to take the sorts of stance Pete feels compelled to take. Consider this:
- No one questions that our soldiers in Afghanistan get a beer ration. Most likely would think they should get more.
- Twice as many Canadians would like to have a beer with our third party left wing socialist leader, Jack Layton, as would vote for him. When you think of it, we don't even have a public outcry when pollsters ask which politician you would rather have a beer with. It's a valid question culturally.
- We think it is important to ask why our Washington embassy has fine wines but crap beer.
- We have a not too private sense of pride that 144,000 glasses of beer was sold at the recent World Junior Hockey Tournament held in Saskatchewan brining in over $1,000,000 in revenue for the event. That's about 43 beers for every 100 tickets sold. The sort of story makes us beam.
We are a funny land. Both egalitarian and reasonably libertarian. Largely urban but the cultural myth is that everyone thinks they live in the woods. We canoe. Beer, like curling and pushing the stuck cars of strangers out of snow drifts, plays the social role of a leveler which is important as we like the level as in middling centrist politics as well as the goal of moderate personal success and security. If we had a palace of historic national treasures like other lands it would like have a hall dedicated to early and significant Canadian beer drinking vessels.
Neo-prohibitionists? Anti-neo-prohibitionist diatribes? No thanks. There's likely curling to watch on TV, a good beer to sip and life is only so long.
Comments
The H's - January 14, 2010 1:08 AM
That's a great post !
Frank M - January 14, 2010 5:38 AM
I agree, for the most part. Canada is a great beer nation. Having a few beers while watching hockey is Canadian Nirvana. I think thats the problem most of us have with our current Prime MInister. He doesn't seem like a guy who would enjoy a beer and talking hockey.
But here in my small part of Canada we do have Neo-proibitionists. They did their best Helen Lovejoy imitation (Won't somebody think of the children?) a few years ago when .5% beer was eliminated from supermaket shelves. Regulated to collect dust in the safety of the NLC's cool rooms.
Alan - January 14, 2010 8:57 AM
Hmm. I was expecting a lot of European comments suggesting I was full of it, actually. You are right about Harper, Frank, and I think that is one of the most telling things. People aren't so much turned off by his vibe that he would not be comfortable having a beer with a voter as people wish "if he would just come over to my place on Saturday afternoons for a beer so we could loosen him up."
br - January 14, 2010 10:06 AM
..but i do live in the woods
mike - January 14, 2010 10:07 AM
I think most of us would be out of our league discussing hockey with Harper. He is quite literally a hockey historian.
Alan - January 14, 2010 11:41 AM
Actually, as with his claims to be a great economist, he has a claim to be a hockey historian but I have never seen any product arising from that claim. Remember what you call the person who got "D" in anatomy when at med school - you call him doctor.
Dan - January 14, 2010 1:32 PM
I wish I could be a canuck in the woods! Great post.
Amy - January 14, 2010 5:07 PM
Canada has a history of prohibition so where did those people go? In America, following Repeal, alcohol misuse and abuse became a public health issue. The people in the U.K., who Pete Brown and Jay Brooks are labeling neo-prohibitionists, are speaking from a public health perspective. Doesn't Canada have anybody who feels alcohol misuse and abuse is a public health matter?
Scott - January 14, 2010 7:49 PM
Perhaps this is the real reason we Americans are always threatening to move to Canada...
Alan - January 14, 2010 8:00 PM
Amy, we really had "prohibition" up here - by which I mean you have to do finger quotes when you say it. You may want to find a copy of Booze by Heron but according to my recollection no real restriction on home brewing, thousands and thousands of medical prescriptions, and some sort of scheme where anyone could order booze from the Province of Quebec which just happened to have warehouses in other provinces. Ontario didn't prohibit wine sales as Ontario produces wine.
In the modern world, we Canadians are a fairly socially responsible lot - hence all the "boring" Canadian jokes. We don't have a large libertarian movement so MADD has less to argue against as our laws are fairly tight. Drinking and driving leads to big sentences and loss of a drivers license. We also like our cops a lot. Mounties are not just loved elsewhere. Remember - our constitution promise peace, order and good government.
Plus, I do not see the sort of US or UK binge or college kegger drinking as we have a much lower drinking age than the US and no one would get charged with letting an 18 year old have a beer. We are big on being able to "hold your beer" culturally. Going all vom is pathetic but we expect most young adults to have the experience without a huge amound of social shame. And I am, pretty sure that in Ontario, I am not breaking a law letting my kids have a drink - though they are too young to get the privilege yet. We are like one big Wisconsin.
P of K - January 14, 2010 10:32 PM
There is something nice about having a beer outside on a winter's day and having to drink up before it goes all slushy.
Alan - January 14, 2010 10:46 PM
And something good about not worrying about space in the fridge during house parties for five whole months of the year.
neets - January 16, 2010 4:41 PM
What about Ontario?
- the weird 'strong beer' labeling requirements in Ontario
- the law on brewpubs only allowing max 6.5% ABV beers
- McGuinty stating that he sees nothing wrong with the way beer is distributed in Ontario (oh wait, that's just the neo-bought-politician thing)
Alan - January 16, 2010 4:51 PM
Good points. Never knew about the 6.5%. Especially as I have had brewpub beers stronger than that.
Pete Brown - January 20, 2010 4:22 AM
Maybe this is why my mate Rudgie of Hops and Glory fame is upping sticks and moving permanently to Tronner after working there on a placement for six months. He might work for Molson Coors but he's fallen in love with Canadian craft brews. For God's sake, he's even a born again hockey fan.
I'm gonna have to come and visit...
Alan - January 20, 2010 7:43 AM
You do that but plan a Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Valley tour as well. Ontario sits amongst some of the better beer brewing areas of North America - and is, frankly shamed by them. I am off Friday for a beer buying trip into central New York due to the lack of local talent.
Max - April 12, 2010 8:47 PM
Canadian soldiers don't have beer rations over in Afghanistan they follow the regulations of the country which doesn't allow alcohol. Maybe for Christmas they would get some but the rest of the time that's their favourite beverage :)
Steve Gates - November 18, 2010 3:03 PM
The beverage that means most to us soldiers when deployed overseas is our Tim Hortons, we can wait until our leave for beer but don't f--- with our Timmies. Our Prohibition would never have happened if not for the fact that every man worth his salt was fighting in the trenches of France at the time, the women, newly empowered by proxy and egged on by the slack jawed, limp wristed, flat footed hermaphrodites who either could not meet the physical requirements of military service or were white feather wearing consciencious objectors voted for prohibition, The troops, once the war was over, came home to Rosey the Riveter and no beer to cry into. Some of them probably wished they were still in France, at least they had some wine to put down their neck.