At the time of this writing, LCBO employees had commenced strike action, and I thought our readers would like to know a bit of the history of this public entity and how it came into existence.

Beginning in the 1850s, the churches began to blame whiskey for declining attendance.

Each Sunday the local ministers would lament, from the pulpit, their steadfast belief that wayward men would take their pay day envelope, with its $6 of cash content, and walk to the nearest bar where they would proceed to fritter away the money on strong drink.

After this binge, there would be no money for family, food, rent or weekly donation to their religious denominations.

Though the claims of the ministers were often enhanced, they were not entirely untrue.

The pressure the churches placed on the politicians for some sort of control (of which there was practically none) was intense and little by little the whiskey trade was gradually subjected to more and more regulation and eventual elimination – at least legal elimination.

The........

© Sarnia Observer