Ontario alcohol expansion not related to early election speculation: minister [Video]

In the face of early election speculation, Ontario’s finance minister insists the Ford government’s decision to shell out $225 million to supercharge its timeline for beer and wine in convenience stores is about honouring a longstanding commitment, not future ballots.

During the spring, the province announced it was paying up to a quarter of a billion dollars to break an exclusivity contract with the privately-owned Beer Store 18 months early to push alcohol into 8,500 new stores.

The move came as Premier Doug Ford repeatedly avoided questions about a potential early election, speculation that has since seen nominations and deadlines set for sitting government members almost two years before the next election is set to take place.

Asked on Wednesday if The Beer Store payment and accelerated booze timeline were about an early election, Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy denied the suggestion.

“It was done because we made a commitment in 2018 to …