Beer Store Privatization2024$225M+
Lobbyist
Loblaw retained Jenni Byrne + Associates (registered lobbyist Simon Jefferies) to lobby the Ontario government; provincial lobby records show the firm registered to lobby for Loblaw four times between June 5, 2023 and Jan. 15, 2024, with the work explicitly focused on 'expanded access to beer and wine and red tape reduction' -- the same period the Ford government was expanding alcohol sales into grocery and convenience stores.
Beneficiary
Loblaws is one of the large grocery chains (alongside Metro, Sobeys, Walmart and Costco) licensed to sell beer, wine and ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages under the Ford government's accelerated alcohol retail expansion, and is a board member of the Retail Council of Canada, which advocated for the changes.