Scott Stinson: Ontario to let provincial park visitors drink alcohol at (gasp!) picnic sites and beaches

People enjoying a day at Sandbanks Provincial Park, and other Ontario provincial parks, will soon be able to drink alcoholic beverages while they do so in “most areas.” Photo by Maegen Kulchar/Postmedia/File

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Here is a true story: Around 15 years ago, I was travelling in the south of France, and found myself with some spare time during which I wandered over to the seaside.

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It wasn’t really beach weather, but there were a few people splashing about, a few lounging and catching afternoon sun, and I noticed a street vendor who had some beverages on his cart. Water, juice, pop … and beer.

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I remember, to this day, looking around somewhat furtively. Wait, you mean I could just buy this can of beer and, like, drink it? Out here in public? With kids around and everything?

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This is what growing up in Ontario does to you. Or did to you, rather. The province that was so infamously restrictive about alcohol sales and consumption that it might as well have been run by the Temperance Society has been moving rapidly in the other direction. It’s not quite the French Riviera yet, but we’re getting there.

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Doug Ford’s latest hammer-and-chisel to Ontario’s prudish reputation was announced in Oakville on Wednesday morning by Environment Minister Todd McCarthy: alcoholic drinks in parks.

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Or, more specifically, the consumption of alcohol will now be legal in “most areas” of provincial parks, including picnic sites, beaches and other day-use areas. (Previously, one could only drink alcoholic beverages legally while on a campsite.) Some parks will retain alcohol-free zones, such as places of cultural significance or high-danger areas, but mostly you will be able to stroll around, beer in hand. Or sit, if that’s more your thing.

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In response to questions about concerns that increased alcohol consumption might bring at parks — rowdy behaviour, drunken paddle-boarding, et cetera — McCarthy said that the Ford government realizes “it’s 2026, not 1926.”

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To which any Ontarian might say: yes, we noticed. For a guy who is well-known as a non-drinker, the Progressive Conservative premier sure does want to make it easier for the rest of us.

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Ford’s litany of pro-alcohol changes includes expanding sales at grocery stores — first begun under his Liberal predecessor, Kathleen Wynne — and then big-box and convenience stores, extending hours for sale at places like golf courses, expanding “bring-your-own” permits for outdoor public events, and now the relaxation of restrictions at provincial parks. Plus, there was the whole buck-a-beer thing.

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Formally, the reasons for the liberalization of alcohol consumption at provincial parks include “building a competitive, resilient and self-reliant economy” by making it easier for people to hang out with family and friends “while supporting a stronger tourism industry that creates jobs and drives economic growth.”