Somehow, I figure this might be attributed to Minority Unit

Stats Canada: Canadians Spending More on Alcohol

Canadians bought more beer, wine and spirits last year, but the growth in alcohol sales slowed slightly, Statistics Canada reported Thursday.

In total, Canada's beer and liquor stores and agencies sold more than $16.1 billion worth of alcoholic beverages during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2004, up 4.9 per cent from the year before.

However, this rate of growth was slower than the 6.0 per cent increase during the previous fiscal year...

Last year, beer was by far the most popular libation, capturing 50.7 per cent of the country's alcohol trade, while spirits and wine trailed at 24.7 per cent and 24.6 per cent respectively.

Liquor stores and their agencies sold nearly $4 billion worth of wine, up 7.4 per cent from the previous year...

Profit taken in by provincial and territorial liquor authorities peaked at $4.3 billion, up 7.2 per cent from the previous year, the biggest year-over-year increase in 20 years.

"On average, each Canadian aged 15 and older purchased 107.2 litres of alcoholic beverages, up one litre from the previous fiscal year," Statistics Canada reports. Per capita data is based on the population aged 15 and over.

Provincially, British Columbia and Ontario saw the largest increase in net income with 11. 1 per cent and 9.4 per cent respectively.


God I love those guys.