Could Drinking Save Health Care?

Have you ever heard the phrase “damned if you do, damned if you don’t”? Premier Ed Stelmach should get it tattooed on his forehead because it’s so darn appropriate. Last April, Stelmach announced the government would raise taxes on liquor as part of the fiscal budget for 2009/2010. A day at the lake became a little less enjoyable with party-goers paying an extra $1.30 for a 12-pack of beer. Hard liquor became an expensive mistress at an extra $2.89 for a 750-millilitre bottle. Wine, with the lowest increase at only seventy-five cents extra per bottle, became the first choice for the lush on a budget. The new liquor prices were the highest in the country. And so people complained, as is their democratic right. And hey, it looks like the squeaky wheel really does get all the grease, or at least all the cheap drinks.

Last week Stelmach announced the government would be rolling back the tax hike on liquor. Drinkers around the province rejoiced. Naysayers and practical thinkers were not so thrilled. Why would the government renege on a tax hike when the extra money could go towards more important things, like health care? Yes, that would have been a smart solution to the health care funding crisis but it’s too late now. The decision to roll back the liquor tax hike has been cemented by Stelmach’s firm declaration last week that there would be no new tax increases on his watch.

Now Stelmach is in a catch-22 situation that basically leaves him screwed either way.
If Stelmach sticks with the status quo he will continue to be accused of choosing cheap liquor prices over health care. After all, the liquor tax hike would have brought in an estimated $180 million a year and Alberta needs every cent it can get right now. Health care will no longer cover chiropractic visits, which will save the province $53 million a year. Funding for sex change operations and gender reassignment surgeries has also been cut, which will only save the province a measly $700 000 a year. The projected revenue from the liquor tax hike would have allowed the government to keep chiropractic coverage and sex change operations coverage and left the government with over $100 million to play with in the budget. But if Stelmach changes his mind again and re-raises liquor taxes he will be reneging on his promise not to introduce new taxes and will face being kicked to the curb by his constituents.

Stelmach could have avoided this whole debacle by leaving the liquor tax hike in place. Normally I wouldn’t support the government interfering with anything liquor-related because I support separation of liquor stores and state. Private liquor stores are what makes Alberta so awesome, or, at the very least, it makes us unique. But eliminating chiropractic coverage is wrong. The province has a responsibility to ensure health care costs are kept at a minimum. It’s also the government’s job to reduce the deficit as much as possible. And the best way to reduce the deficit while ensuring health care isn’t compromised is to re-introduce the liquor tax hike. It won’t be a popular decision, and it will probably cost Stelmach his job, but the benefits outweigh the negatives.

It’s not like people will stop drinking because their favourite wine costs seventy-five cents more than it did last year. Liquor stores have said they didn’t experience a drop in business during the brief period when liquor taxes were higher. Drunks need booze to drink in order to remain drunks; without liquor drunks are just recovering alcoholics and that’s not nearly as much fun for them.

The biggest drawback to the tax hike is that some liquor stores did experience a higher rate of theft than usual. Perhaps some customers thought that by stealing liquor and avoiding the higher taxes they were sticking it to Stelmach in some sort of passive, Ghandi-like protest where no one got hurt. Except the sticky-fingered customers did hurt someone and it wasn’t the government- it was the store owners who had no say in the liquor tax hike.

Increasing liquor taxes is the equivalent of the government looking under the couch for spare change. Except this time the $180 million in spare change can make a real difference in our health care system. Albertans need to suck it up, drink up and allow Stelmach to re-implement the liquor tax hike. And hey, every time you have a drink you will be supporting better health care in Alberta. Cheers to that and bottoms up!