In the Canadian province of Ontario, severe restrictions on the sale and consumption of alcoholic drink were imposed in localities during the later 19th century. Prohibition was imposed across the province under the 1916 Ontario Temperance Act, until restrictions were somewhat eased with the passage of the Liquor Control Act of 1927 which set up the still existing Liquor Control Board of Ontario. Regulations were further amended in 1934.
Temperance The Temperance movement started long before Ontario enacted the Ontario Temperance Act of 1916, and for more reasons than social or wartime issues. Fighting for absolute temperance, Prohibition advocates lobbied for this in the 1850s at the Provincial level, and eventually got the right to vote for Prohibition at the municipal level, or otherwise known as "local option". In 1854 the Province of Canada had a positive vote in a local referendum, which consequently allowed city councils to deny all liquor licenses. In 1864, the Dunkin Act was passed by the Province of Canada to curb liquor consumption, offering more liquor control by local option. Later, under heavy demand from the national temperance convention in Montreal in 1875, the Supreme Court ruled in 1877 that Parliament could act on temperance issues through the Government's responsibility for trade and commerce under the constitution. In 1878, the federal government enacted the Canada Temperance Act, or Scott Act, which gave every part of the Dominion of Canada to use local option, which did not satisfy temperance activists lobbying for complete country-wide prohibition. Regardless, temperance activists did not go unchallenged; an attempt to shut down all taverns in Toronto in 1877 using local option led to hundreds of working class men challenging prohibitionist voters, and the attempt was ultimately defeated. Despite the tide of prohibitionist lobbying, Canadians by 1914 were, on average, drinking over seven gallons of beer and a gallon of spirits per year: a 65% increase in beer consumption and a 50% increase in spirits consumption since 1900.
Prohibition Using the War Measures Act, prohibition under the Ontario Temperance Act was introduced to Ontario in March 1916 by William Howard Hearst after 15,000 people brought 825,000 petition signatures to provincial legislature. This legislation was introduced to curb public drinking; saloons, clubs, and retail liquor shops were closed and alcohol was banned from hotels and other similar businesses. Although private consumption of alcohol remained legal, storing large quantities remained criminal. Not all alcoholic beverages were banned in Ontario. The Ontarian provincial government allowed wineries to continue selling for export, but no more than 2.5 per cent proof alcohol (1.5 per cent by volume). Hotels and similar businesses could continue selling this "near beer" or "temperance beer" instead of the prohibited liquor and spirits. In October 1919, wartime prohibition was made permanent and guaranteed prohibition until the Liquor Control Act of 1927. The Board of License Commissioners (BLC) was created in 1915 to centralize liquor law authority and precedes the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) during the decade of Prohibition prior to LCBO's creation. The BLC made sure to enforce the Ontario Temperance Act and manage the distribution of liquor for medical and industrial needs. To enforce the Ontario Temperance Act, the BLC was in charge of supervising the manufacture and sale of liquor and inspection and licensing of hotels. The BLC used this authority to create a new label for accommodation enterprise: the Standard Hotel. The Standard Hotel had to meet BLC guidelines on number of rooms, services provided and quality of structure. For accommodation enterprises that were granted the Standard Hotel license, it was permitted to have extra lucrative services such as selling tobacco or operating restaurants without further fees imposed by the BLC. Despite these regulations, hotels often had two-way taps to switch between light and regular strength beers depending on how well you were known in the community. Brewers would supply these extra-legal supplies to their clientele just to keep prospects for their business. By 1927, Labatt's production in London Ontario was focusing 90% of their production on full-strength alcoholic beverages, supplying reliable bootleggers.
1927 Liquor Control Act
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