Latest news with #Molson
Yahoo
44 minutes ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Canada's stubby beer bottle finds new meaning in an age of American bluster
Forty years after its retirement as the industry standard bottle for beer in Canada, the stubby is being reinterpreted in an age marred by tariffs and American grievance — not as a cultural icon, but as a discreet way of protecting a national industry. In a research paper published this spring, Heather Thompson, a recent graduate of the public history program at Carleton University in Ottawa, argues that the stubby — squat, refillable and therefore largely unappealing to foreign brewers — functioned as a quiet and distinctly Canadian form of protectionism. "At the time, the Big Three, [Canadian Breweries Limited], Molson and Labatt's, they see the Americans coming and they knew they were very interested in the lucrative Canadian market. They needed something," she told CBC News. "The stubby is not a tariff, it's not government-imposed. It's as much an economic product as it is a cultural product." In today's climate of rising tariffs, "buy Canadian" policies and deepening trade tensions, the story of the stubby might feel less like historic footnote and more like a blueprint — for how Canada can still navigate life beside an economically dominant and often unpredictable neighbour. The stubby was introduced in 1961, at a time when Americans, who favoured non-recyclable aluminum cans, made their products in large centralized facilities and shipped their beer across the U.S. and to the world. The stubby, by contrast, was glass, but it was also cheap, durable and lightweight, making it easy to transport. It was also able to be reused up to 100 times. It was the keystone in a closed-loop Canadian bottling system that kept costs down for domestic brewers while it kept foreign brewers out by raising the cost of market entry. The bottle also fit neatly within Canada's fragmented domestic economy. Thanks to interprovincial trade barriers, brewers looking to sell in a given province often had to produce their beer there or face tariffs and restrictions when crossing provincial lines. By 1962, the year after the stubby was introduced, Canada's Big Three brewers controlled about 95 per cent of the Canadian beer market. They owned nearly all of the country's 61 breweries, which gave them a physical presence in every region of Canada. The Big Three also held a majority stake in Ontario's Beer Store, known then as the Brewing Warehousing Company Limited. When the stubby was made a packaging requirement for all beer sold at its stores in Ontario, Thompson argues, the Big Three effectively locked all foreign brewers out by creating an extra hurdle for entry into the market. "To bottle in the stubby, [American brewers] are going to have to make their own line at their plant to bottle specifically for Ontario," she said, noting any cost savings for American brewers through the reusable stubby would be eaten up in transportation costs by first shipping the beer to Canada then shipping it back the U.S. for a refill. Since almost all of Canada's breweries were owned by only three companies when the stubby was introduced in Ontario, the rest of the country followed suit in adopting the stubby because the bottle could be filled and reused in any bottling plant in any province by any Big Three brewer. On par with bagged milk, says history podcaster That kind of market consolidation meant for a generation of Canadian beer drinkers, from 1961 to 1984, the stubby was just about everywhere: on bar counters, fridges or sweating on the dock from St. John's to Victoria. It was also immortalized as a symbol of Canadian identity by the beer-swilling, tuque-wearing McKenzie brothers, who were a parody of Canadian working class culture in the early 1980s, near the end of the bottle's industry dominance. "When we think of the stubby, at least for me, I think of Bob and Doug McKenzie," said Craig Baird, host of the Canadian History Ehx! podcast, a show that looks back on the country's history. Baird said the only thing that comes close to what the stubby did, in terms of uniquely Canadian design and function, is bagged milk. Like the stubby, it's efficient, cost-effective and largely incomprehensible to outsiders, making it both a practical solution and marker of national identity. "If you look online, people say Canadians use bagged milk even though only Ontario and some other localized areas use bagged milk." Canadian brewers dropped the stubby in 1984, switching to taller long necks as American brands like Budweiser and Coors entered the market thanks, first, to licensing agreements with American brewers and then free trade with the U.S. The new bottles held the same 341 millilitres but offered more branding appeal. WATCH | Saying goodbye to the stubby: The stubby began to be phased out in 1985 and now largely exists only in antique stores and our collective memory. Reviving the spirit, if not the bottle In a global market shaped by trade battles and foreign ownership, Thompson sees the stubby as more than nostalgia. It's a reminder of what Canadian brewers once did to protect their market — and what they might do again. "We're seeing more interest in buying Canadian," she said. "It's a great opportunity for craft brewers to revive the stubby and its cultural power." While few brewers have returned to the squat bottle, its spirit lives on in projects such as Glorious and Free, a patriotic IPA first brewed by Dominion City Brewing in Ottawa. The recipe is shared with 40 breweries across Canada that have used hometown ingredients to create their own versions. "The idea for the campaign really came from a walk in the snow," Dominion City co-founder Josh McJannett said with an obvious nod to former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, a politician whose retirement followed "a walk in the snow" in 1984, the same year the stubby was put out to pasture. "The thought of stubby beer bottles around again is certainly appealing to the nostalgia in me," McJannett said, noting Glorious and Free is available in tallboy cans only. He said the recipe was crafted as a direct response to some of the frustration he was feeling over U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and talk of annexation. "This was a way to harness that feeling and take some kind of an action," McJannett said. Firm, but polite. A beer that, like the stubby, refuses to be poured into anyone else's mould.
CBC
12 hours ago
- Business
- CBC
Canada's stubby beer bottle finds new meaning in an age of American bluster
Forty years after its retirement as the industry standard bottle for beer in Canada, the stubby is being reinterpreted in an age marred by tariffs and American grievance — not as a cultural icon, but as a discreet way of protecting a national industry. In a research paper published this spring, Heather Thompson, a recent graduate of the public history program at Carleton University in Ottawa, argues that the stubby — squat, recyclable and therefore largely unappealing to foreign brewers — functioned as a quiet and distinctly Canadian form of protectionism. "At the time, the Big Three, [Canadian Breweries Limited], Molson and Labatt's, they see the Americans coming and they knew they were very interested in the lucrative Canadian market. They needed something," she told CBC News. "The stubby is not a tariff, it's not government-imposed. It's as much an economic product as it is a cultural product." In today's climate of rising tariffs, "buy Canadian" policies and deepening trade tensions, the story of the stubby might feel less like historic footnote and more like a blueprint — for how Canada can still navigate life beside an economically dominant and often unpredictable neighbour. The stubby was introduced in 1961, at a time when Americans, who favoured non-recyclable aluminum cans, made their products in large centralized facilities and shipped their beer across the U.S. and to the world. The stubby, by contrast, was glass, but it was also cheap, durable and lightweight, making it easy to transport. It was also able to be reused up to 100 times. It was the keystone in a closed-loop Canadian bottling system that kept costs down for domestic brewers while it kept foreign brewers out by raising the cost of market entry. The bottle also fit neatly within Canada's fragmented domestic economy. Thanks to interprovincial trade barriers, brewers looking to sell in a given province often had to produce their beer there or face tariffs and restrictions when crossing provincial lines. By 1962, the year after the stubby was introduced, Canada's Big Three brewers controlled about 95 per cent of the Canadian beer market. They owned nearly all of the country's 61 breweries, which gave them a physical presence in every region of Canada. The Big Three also held a majority stake in Ontario's Beer Store, known then as the Brewing Warehousing Company Limited. When the stubby was made a packaging requirement for all beer sold at its stores in Ontario, Thompson argues, the Big Three effectively locked all foreign brewers out by creating an extra hurdle for entry into the market. "To bottle in the stubby, [American brewers] are going to have to make their own line at their plant to bottle specifically for Ontario," she said, noting any cost savings for American brewers through the reusable stubby would be eaten up in transportation costs by first shipping the beer to Canada then shipping it back the U.S. for a refill. Since almost all of Canada's breweries were owned by only three companies when the stubby was introduced in Ontario, the rest of the country followed suit in adopting the stubby because the bottle could be filled and reused in any bottling plant in any province by any Big Three brewer. On par with bagged milk, says history podcaster That kind of market consolidation meant for a generation of Canadian beer drinkers, from 1961 to 1984, the stubby was just about everywhere: on bar counters, fridges or sweating on the dock from St. John's to Victoria. It was also immortalized as a symbol of Canadian identity by the beer-swilling, tuque-wearing McKenzie brothers, who were a parody of Canadian working class culture in the early 1980s, near the end of the bottle's industry dominance. "When we think of the stubby, at least for me, I think of Bob and Doug McKenzie," said Craig Baird, host of the Canadian History Ehx! podcast, a show that looks back on the country's history. Baird said the only thing that comes close to what the stubby did, in terms of uniquely Canadian design and function, is bagged milk. Like the stubby, it's efficient, cost-effective and largely incomprehensible to outsiders, making it both a practical solution and marker of national identity. "If you look online, people say Canadians use bagged milk even though only Ontario and some other localized areas use bagged milk." Canadian brewers dropped the stubby in 1984, switching to taller, non-recyclable long necks as American brands like Budweiser and Coors entered the market thanks, first, to licensing agreements with American brewers and then free trade with the U.S. The new bottles held the same 341 millilitres but offered more branding appeal. WATCH | Saying goodbye to the stubby: Farewell to the reliable old stubby 41 years ago Duration 4:02 The stubby began to be phased out in 1985 and now largely exists only in antique stores and our collective memory. Reviving the spirit, if not the bottle In a global market shaped by trade battles and foreign ownership, Thompson sees the stubby as more than nostalgia. It's a reminder of what Canadian brewers once did to protect their market — and what they might do again. "We're seeing more interest in buying Canadian," she said. "It's a great opportunity for craft brewers to revive the stubby and its cultural power." While few brewers have returned to the squat bottle, its spirit lives on in projects such as Glorious and Free, a patriotic IPA first brewed by Dominion City Brewing in Ottawa. The recipe is shared with 40 breweries across Canada that have used hometown ingredients to create their own versions. "The idea for the campaign really came from a walk in the snow," Dominion City co-founder Josh McJannett said with an obvious nod to former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, a politician whose retirement followed "a walk in the snow" in 1984, the same year the stubby was put out to pasture. "The thought of stubby beer bottles around again is certainly appealing to the nostalgia in me," McJannett said, noting Glorious and Free is available in tallboy cans only. He said the recipe was crafted as a direct response to some of the frustration he was feeling over U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and talk of annexation. "This was a way to harness that feeling and take some kind of an action." McJannett said. Firm, but polite. A beer that, like the stubby, refuses to be poured into anyone else's mould.
Global News
5 days ago
- Business
- Global News
New Beer Store locations set to be shuttered, union fears more closures will follow
A steady stream of announcements from the Beer Store continues with the news the retail giant will shutter more locations in August as it keeps ramping down the number of storefronts it operates. On Monday, the Beer Store confirmed another 10 of its spaces were slated for closure, a response to Ontario's decision to allow corner, grocery and big box stores to sell alcohol. The Beer Store — which is owned by Molson, Labatt and Sleeman — has announced store closures in dribs and drabs throughout the year. The latest announcement takes the total number of stores closed to more than 70, according to the union representing workers at The Beer Store. Closing Beer Stores across the province was triggered by the Ford government ending its exclusivity agreement with the retailer and allowing other locations to sell beer, wine and mixed drinks. Story continues below advertisement In May 2024, Ontario announced a $225 million agreement with the Beer Store to break its contract early and liberalize alcohol sales in the province. The agreement said some stores could be closed, but at least 300 Beer Store locations should be kept open until the end of 2025. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The Beer Store will be allowed to close as many locations as it chooses from Jan. 1, 2026, onwards. A news release for The Beer Store confirming the latest round of closures, which come into effect on Aug. 24, said the decision was 'never easy' to make. 'The Beer Store recognises the contributions our employees make to the business,' the company said. 'All efforts will be made to support employees through this process in alignment with commitments and agreements.' The Beer Store has previously refused to rule out closing all its stores and did not respond to questions about how many stores had been closed to date from Global News. John Nock, president of the local union branch representing Beer Store workers, said he was confident the Beer Store would close as many stores as it was contractually allowed to. 'I have no doubt they will, so yes, that would mean 52 more closures,' he wrote in an email. 'And in 2026 they can close how many they like. That scares me.' Story continues below advertisement The Beer Store locations which will close on Aug. 24 are:
New York Times
02-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
The Maple Leafs took care of first-round business. Now for the hard part
KANATA, Ont. – There was total jubilation — euphoria, really — in and around the Toronto Maple Leafs' dressing room in Tampa two years ago after they beat the Lightning in Game 6 to advance to the second round. 'It was special,' Morgan Rielly recalled recently. 'I know in the big picture it's only one round, but it felt like a big moment for our group.' Advertisement This time around? Not so much. Craig Berube described his team as having a 'businesslike' mentality heading into Game 6, and that's how it felt after they survived a scare from the Ottawa Senators to advance to the second round. The celebration was almost muted. Chris Tanev barely smiled when we spoke. 'You win and you're happy and then you move on,' Tanev told The Athletic in a dressing room that was quiet and fairly empty as team staffers packed up the last bits of gear, the odd one holding a can of Molson. 'It's round one of a journey. You enjoy it for a little bit, and you move on and get ready to play the defending Stanley Cup champions.' Which, of course, is where the real test begins for this team. In the end, they handled their business in Round 1. It wasn't always pretty. It wasn't without a series of hiccups, including giving up another 2-0 lead in Game 6, but the Leafs did what they were supposed to do. They beat a team they were supposed to beat, the past be damned. 'It's about the 2025 guys that are in our room and the belief in one another, doing it for one another, just going out there and competing,' Auston Matthews said afterward. 'This one feels good.' It took a lot to push that puck across the line. A season-defining game from Max Pacioretty, for one thing. Promoted to the second line with John Tavares and William Nylander for the first time all series, Pacioretty bodied Nick Jensen off the puck in the second period to set up Nylander's first goal of Game 6. The 36-year-old, in only his 41st game all year, threw a team-high seven hits. And because Berube swapped him out for the speedier Bobby McMann in the third period — a defensive-minded change tied to the Tavares line's matchup against the Sens' top unit — Pacioretty ended up on the ice with Max Domi and Pontus Holmberg. Which is how he found himself on the other end of a Domi pass that he promptly fired into the net. Advertisement It was Pacioretty's 26th career goal in the playoffs. Eight of them were game winners. The Leafs needed and got big games from two of their stars, Matthews and Nylander, who combined for three of the four goals. Nylander ended up leading the team with nine points in the series. Two, three and four for the Leafs in scoring: Mitch Marner (eight), Matthews (seven), and Tavares (five). Matthews' goal came on a power play that was, in the end, probably the biggest reason for the Leafs getting past the Sens. The Leafs converted at a 35 percent clip with the man advantage, with six goals on 17 chances. It took contributions from up and down the lineup, from unlikely overtime winners by Domi and Simon Benoit, to Scott Laughton blocking a Jake Sanderson shot with 27 seconds left in regulation of Game 6 to spur Nylander's empty net dagger. The Leafs blocked 128 shots in the series and played strong defence throughout, especially from the top pair of Tanev and Jake McCabe, but also the all-defence line of Laughton, Steven Lorentz and Calle Järnkrok. 'It's a grind,' Tanev, who reached the Stanley Cup final with Vancouver in 2011, said of the journey it takes to even get there. 'Every series, you expect it to go six, seven games. Throughout the journey, different guys step up at different times and that's a huge part of it.' And so the Leafs survived a series that got dicey for a minute. 'I think going through adversity, it builds character,' Tanev said. 'You learn things about your team and yourself.' What had Tanev learned about this team over the six games? 'Just resilient,' he said. 'Stick to the process. Play the way that we want to play and do the little things right. Huge block by (Laughton) — that's the stuff it takes to win at this time of the year.' As that Tampa series in 2023 demonstrated, though, it's only what comes next that will matter for the Leafs. Advertisement The jubilation that came with beating the Lightning and finally winning a first-round series was dead and gone when the Leafs got rolled in five games in the second round by the Panthers. Organizational chaos ensued — the same kind of organizational chaos that could follow another second-round defeat this year. Winning in the first round should not be enough for this team. The bar should be so much higher. But the Panthers, again, pose a monstrous challenge. The Leafs struggled to generate quality five-on-five offence against the Sens. Breaking through against the Panthers, who boast giants on defence and two Selke Trophy candidates at forward, will be that much harder. Florida ranked second in the league during the regular season in the quality of their five-on-five defence (expected goals against per 60 minutes). The Panthers held Tampa, the highest-scoring team in the league during the regular season, to 12 goals in five games. They kept Nikita Kucherov, a finalist for the Hart Trophy, from scoring even once, doing so in part by killing off nearly 90 percent of Lightning power plays. The Panthers boast all kinds of depth, maybe the best depth in the league, from Sam Reinhart and Aleksander Barkov up top, to the better Tkachuk (Matthew) and Sam Bennett, to a swift and competitive third line that includes longtime Leaf pest Brad Marchand. They are physical, mean and full of confidence. They go hard on every forecheck. Another series win will require Matthews, Marner, Tavares and Nylander to outduel Barkov, Reinhart, Tkachuk and Bennett. The Leafs will need their stars to come through again and again (and again) in a way they could not back in that 2023 second round, when Matthews and Tavares were both notably held without a goal. The Leafs' power play will have to remain a weapon, and Anthony Stolarz will have to hold his own against Sergei Bobrovsky, the guy he backed up en route to a Cup last spring — a tall task indeed. Advertisement 'Extremely tough,' Tanev said of the matchup. 'If you watched them in that series (against Tampa), how well-connected they play, how well-coached they are. We talk about sticking to the process, and you watch that team play and they do the same things over and over and over again and try to wear teams out.' Florida won three of four meetings between the two teams during the regular season, looking like the clear-cut better all-around team. The Leafs will prove a lot — if they can somehow upend the champs and advance to the conference final for the first time since 2002, and more crucially keep their hopes alive of ending a too-long championship drought. Gotta beat the champ to be the champ. (Top photo of Auston Matthews and Thomas Chabot: Marc DesRosiers / Imagn Images)
National Post
25-04-2025
- Politics
- National Post
Emma Teitel: Tim Houston's positive brand of conservatism
Article content This week, while the federal Conservatives were renewing their vows to crack down on so-called woke ideology, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston released a three-minute video that did more to counter the excesses of political correctness than Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has done in his entire career. Article content Article content This is because Houston's 'I am Nova Scotian' video (what some suspect is a precursor to his future bid for federal leader) offers a version of Canadian conservatism that celebrates patriotism and diversity at the same time — and most rare: in a way that isn't annoying or cringey. Article content The video is a disarming Maritimer take on the 'I am Canadian' Molson ad from the 1990s. Instead of beer, its focus is Peggy's Cove, Celtic strings and 'skaw-lups' (not 'scaah-lips,' we are sternly reminded). Article content Article content We see the premier, in a windbreaker of course, tour various Nova Scotia landmarks while his voiceover recounts the long list of important things invented in the province. Hockey. The telephone. Newsprint. Kerosene. The donair. Article content There are many nods to old-stock maritime tropes. 'I have asked who your father is, and I give directions based on landmarks that are no longer there,' Houston says. But there are also nods to themes rarely seen in Canadian Conservative politics these days. Article content We were 'first in the country to legalize that love is love,' the premier says about his province, amid images of gay couples marching in a Pride parade. Article content 'And ours is the province where Viola Desmond sat wherever she damn well pleased.… Inspired by the Black Loyalists and the Trelawney Maroons, we will not be bullied by those that look to oppress us. We were the first province in Canada. The first port of call for generations of new Canadians. And we will never be the 51st of anything. My name is Tim and I am Nova Scotian.' Article content Houston's video could be naked political opportunism masked as Maritimer pride, or a little bit of both of those things (it probably isn't a coincidence the video launched days prior to an election result that could spell the end of Pierre Poilievre's tenure as party leader). Article content Article content But whatever its motive, it is frankly a masterclass in inclusion done the right way. Houston manages to acknowledge his province's painful complexities without endlessly apologizing for the injustices of its past; he includes diverse groups without casting them as victims or invoking jargon to describe them. Article content In other words, the Nova Scotia premier is offering Nova Scotians — and by extension Canadians — a picture of a conservatism that says, 'We see you for who you are — now let's get on with it and do something great together.' It might seem trite to some, but it is a whole lot more invigorating than the identity politics offered by the federal Conservatives, which could be boiled down to: 'We must destroy the woke mind virus to re-establish a warrior mentality in the Armed Forces.' Article content It's not just that the latter worldview is, as many have pointed out, a tad Trumpy for an electorate practically allergic to U.S. President Donald Trump. It's that it has almost zero relevance to the lives of average Canadians.
