Canadians are drinking less, driving the biggest drop in alcohol sales in 20 years: StatsCan (www.cbc.ca)

submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by NomNom@feddit.uk to c/canada@lemmy.ca

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[-] SamuelRJankis@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 days ago

Since there's someone spamming the immigration thing. I do want to point out one of the most popular post this week on the same topic from The Hub also managed to shim in a immigration angle into the article.

The right wing is pretty relentless on bringing up immigration.

https://sh.itjust.works/post/56373660

“Undoubtedly, the arrival of immigrants from non-drinking populations reduces the volume of alcohol consumed per capita in Canada…,” explained Phillips, although admitting the effect is marginal. “Many immigrants to Canada come from Asian countries, India and China especially, where alcohol consumption is low.”

[-] Rentlar@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago

Yeah so I woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. You know who tends to make beds at hotels in many parts of Canada? Immigrant workers. Ha! Checkmate librulz.

[-] melsaskca@lemmy.ca 20 points 2 days ago

Capitalism, at this very late stage, is pricing everybody out of everything. Those rich guys ain't so smart if this is the plan they chose.

[-] maplesaga@lemmy.world -3 points 2 days ago

https://globalnews.ca/news/9576344/canada-alcohol-tax-increase-explainer/

[-] foggenbooty@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago

Charlebois predicts the tax will increase the price of a single beer by one cent, while the finance ministry told Global News in a statement that the amount would be three-quarters of a cent.

Oh no? Even in the worst case the taxes are clearly not the issue.

Beer Canada said since the tax is a production tax imposed on the brewer at the point and time of production, “it is then magnified by other fees and taxes imposed by distributors, retailers, and provinces, including sales taxes,” making the impact on a 12-pack likely closer to 20 cents.

[-] maplesaga@lemmy.world -3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Well sure, at some point it breaks the camels back, where the poor are unable to drink; and like all taxes that arent means tested the rich are largely unaffected. The total tax obviously depends on province, but I think these numbers are correct, at an average tax of 47%.

https://cansumer.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Canadian-Beer-Tax-Components-as-Percentage-of-Retail-Price-1024x474.png

https://cansumer.ca/alcohol-prices-canada/

This is obviously exacerbated to by the recent mass immigration of low skilled workers who compete with the youth, which has lead to lower wages and more unaffordable housing.

[-] foggenbooty@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago

It was disingenuous to infer that the minor tax increase you linked to above had any meaningful impact on affordability.

If your second link is accurate then your bigger beef is with the provincial liquor boards as they are levying a tax that is certainly notable.

And then to blame immigrants for unaffordability with the old debunked "taking our jobs" argument is just sad. I hope you eventually step out of your conservative bubble and see that it's capitalism and class inequality that are the problem, not government and your fellow man.

[-] maplesaga@lemmy.world -3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Its the taxes they keep adding, that was just the most recent. Clearly when every level of government is dipping their hands in for more then the poor won't be able to afford it. The rich will keep the industry alive though, a real progressive society which puts the privilege of a commonly used natural substance behind a paywall.

I blame immigrants because they were brought in to deal with the labor shortage, when everyone was getting large raises. I have a brain, I can see it debased salaries, and corporations were begging for it.

[-] foggenbooty@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

You're so close. It's like you read 1/2 of the detective novel, thought you knew who did it, then got bored and closed it without finding out you were wrong.

[-] maplesaga@lemmy.world -2 points 1 day ago

What aspect?

[-] Veritrax@lemmy.ca 17 points 2 days ago

Because it's $45 for a 24 of Blue. If I want anything better quality it's even more expensive. 6 tall cans from the local micro-brewery comes to like $28. It's too damn expensive to drink these days, especially with cheap dispensaries on every corner now.

[-] funkajunk@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

I buy a cartridge for ~30 bucks every few months, and I'm set

[-] dermanus@lemmy.ca 15 points 2 days ago

Former heavy drinker here. I quit a few years ago because I was tired of being hungover. Now any time I'm tempted to relapse my natural cheapness saves me. I can't believe how much money I'm saving.

[-] Ulrich_the_Old@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago

I was born in Canada. I used to drink about 55 liters of whiskey / year. I quit drinking whiskey. So just by myself I am responsible for Canada drinking less.

[-] maplesaga@lemmy.world -4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

https://realestatemagazine.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Average-listed-rent.jpeg

Mass immigration lead to skyrocketing asset prices and rents. We did it to artificially depress wages when inflation caused a labor shortage, as per the Phillips curve, as the Bank of Canada was raising interest rates to cool the job market.

Now wages are way down due to capital shallowing and a cooled labor market with far more people, and housing is way up.

[-] KindnessisPunk@piefed.ca 9 points 2 days ago

Rent was mostly caused by us dropping the ball on building new housing and not zoning properly so the only profitable things to build were massive single family homes or complexes with huge amounts of parking which obviously required a lot of land.

Immigration is just a tiny piece of an interlocking puzzle.

[-] wraekscadu@vargar.org 2 points 2 days ago

Thank you so much.

Jobs aren't this static thing that immigrants come and steal. Immigrants also increase consumption. Increased consumption = more jobs. Basic macroecon.

At no point has any modern macroeconomist ever condemned immigration. Immigration from a low economic productivity country to a high productivity country is always a net positive.

Canada is facing scaling issues with respect to population increase. Again, as you said not being able to construct new houses quickly. Why is supply not meeting demand? Shitty zoning laws, red tape and long, drawn out public consultations mostly attended by boomer NIMBY homeowners concerned about increasing the valuator their home.

[-] maplesaga@lemmy.world 0 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

How can 4% annual population growth while you arent building enough housing a "tiny piece".

I agree that zoning, huge developer taxes that have increased thousands of percent in a decade, and slow bureaucracy are why we cant build housing, but without immigration demand would be stagnant.