Wildrose unveils '6-pack plan' to fix Alberta beer industry

It's a recurring Alberta political debate that sounds like a reality TV show: Beer Wars.

And it's back with another episode.

The Wildrose on Monday released a "6-Pack Plan for BeerProducers and Consumers" that tries to take the bubbles out ofthe NDP government's changes to the provincialbeer tax system.

In July, the NDP announced a$1.25 per litre markup on all beer, eradicatingthe lower graduated markup rate previously accorded smaller brewers in three Western provinces.

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Thatled to a suds spatbetween Premier Rachel Notley and Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall.

The NDP laterannounced a grant program to help small Alberta brewers that produce and sell up to 300,000 hectolitres annually. But brewers in other provinces who sell their products in Alberta wereleft with empty glasses they don't qualify for the grant money.

The Wildrosecallsits new scheme the"6-Pack Plan for Beer Producers and Consumers" and it reads like a keg-sized plan to fix all that "ales" the province's beer industry.

It would, among other things, lower beer taxes. It says the Wildrosewould also encourage growth by "ending minimum capacity regulations and retroactive markup rates for small- and medium-sized breweries."

In a news release, WildroseMLA Derek Fildebrandt said: "It is also really important that we protect Alberta consumers in this process and ensure that their choice is not limited by government actions."

Online critics asked the Wildrose to release more action plans: