Nunavut liquor sales consultation in Iqaluit next month

(Note, location updated Sept. 22 at 12:10 p.m)

If you have an opinion about whether a beer and wine store should open in Iqaluit to sell over-the-counter alcohol, you’ll have a chance to make your views known to the government next month.

The Government of Nunavut will host a public consultation on the proposal Oct. 7 in the Baffin Room at the Frobisher Inn, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

The Nunavut Liquor Commission is considering changes to its decades-old system of demanding that all residents order their alcohol and have it shipped in from another community to accommodate an experimental, direct sales store in Iqaluit.

The commission is acting on recommendations from the 2012 Nunavut Liquor Act Review Task Force Report and a subsequent petition from Iqaluit residents requesting that the GN open the store.

Proponents of direct sales alcohol suggest it could help to reduce harm by offering low alcohol options — beer and wine rather than hard liquor products such as vodka — and by encouraging moderate alcohol consumption instead of binge drinking.

The RCMP and others also suggest direct retail sales would greatly reduce the demand for illegal alcohol and hopefully undercut the flourishing and lucrative bootleg booze market.

“A retail outlet would open only after public consultation and with community support,” says a Sept. 19 news release from the GN’s finance department, which oversees the liquor commission.

“Iqalummiut are encouraged to attend the public consultation and get involved in this key decision.”