Liquor permits will go up for auction next month as the province phases out its remaining Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority liquor stores.

In late October, the provincial government announced that the province’s SLGA liquor stores would close, no later than March 31st of this year, and leading up to that, there will be a permit auction, for the permits only, not the buildings the current stores are in.

Minister Responsible for the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority, Lori Carr, says the permits will be sold through an online auction in real time to ensure they are sold efficiently and transparently. The auctions will be staggered between February 6th and the 15th.

Interested bidders must preregister and pay a $5,000 deposit to participate. After this process, Carr says, auctions will be held for communities that qualify for another permit, if someone has expressed an interest. The online auction will be through McDougall Auction at https://mcdougallauction.com/new

The Official Opposition’s SLGA Critic, Nathaniel Teed, says the government doesn’t need to sell of the provincially owned liquor stores because they are profitable, and the Sask. Party government hasn’t proven otherwise. Teed points to the government’s business plan for this fiscal year where it was projected that SLGA Retail would make a profit of $2.5 million.