Stop us if you’ve heard this one.
A Minister, some staff, and the media walk into a bar…
This is no joke, but the world’s biggest breweries are laughing pretty hard.
In what should have been a good news announcement, featuring long overdue changes to the markup thresholds that will help small and regional brewers expand and create jobs in Saskatchewan, Sask. Party SLGA Minister Jeremy Harrison spiked his photo-op at one of Saskatchewan’s fine breweries with a bitter dose of over-the-top rhetoric and poor planning.
It could and should have been a clean announcement with some nice hoppy notes for Saskatchewan craft and regional brewers. Instead, the Sask. Party’s scheme will ensure that multinational giants like Molson-Coors and InBev see a 25 per cent tax cut – by far, the biggest benefit.
You can bet that none of those savings will be passed on to consumers. And, while the Sask. Party is forcing cuts onto schools and hospitals in order to pay for their mismanagement, scandals, and waste, a huge tax cut to the world’s largest breweries is sure to leave a bad taste in the mouths of Saskatchewan taxpayers.