VIDEO: The Beer Store’s new PSA-style commercial warns about the dangers of corner-store booze sales

With pro-privatization sentiment at an all-time high in Ontario, The Beer Store may be feeling a bit threatened. That could explain this new PSA-style commercial, embedded above, in which the booze conglomerate employs the tried-and-tested “won’t somebody think of the children” approach to justifying its near-monopoly on Ontario beer sales. In the 30-second video, four-time world curling champ Glenn Howard (who apparently now runs a Beer Store outlet—and appears at first glance to be wearing a cop uniform) talks about the conglomerate’s great track record when it comes to checking IDs and not selling booze to really drunk people—the clear implication being that wresting booze control from the hands of the foreign-owned cartel would lead to lots of drunk minors and other unpleasant havoc. The ad is part of the Beer Store’s multi-pronged approach to rebutting claims made by the Ontario Convenience Stores Association, which has been lobbying hard for beer and liquor sales in corner stores