Prohibition in Canada

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A police raid confiscating illegal alcohol, in Elk Lake, Ontario, in 1925. Raid at elk lake.jpg
A police raid confiscating illegal alcohol, in Elk Lake, Ontario, in 1925.

Prohibition in Canada was a ban on alcoholic beverages that arose in various stages, from local municipal bans in the late 19th century (extending to the present in some cases), to provincial bans in the early 20th century, and national prohibition (a temporary wartime measure) from 1918 to 1920. The relatively large and powerful beer and alcohol manufacturing sector, and the huge working class that purchased their products, failed to convince any of the governments to reverse their stance on prohibition. [1] Most provinces repealed their bans in the 1920s, though alcohol was illegal in Prince Edward Island from 1901 to 1948. By comparison, Ontario's temperance act was in effect from 1916 to 1927. [2]

Contents

As legislation prohibiting the consumption of alcohol was repealed, it was typically replaced with regulation imposing restrictions on the sale of alcohol to minors, and with excise taxes on alcoholic products.

Origins

Temperance movement

Canadians drank heavily during the nineteenth century. The Upper Canadian census of 1851 recorded 1,999 taverns or one to 478 people. Drunkenness, fighting, domestic abuse, and household impoverishment were rampant. [2]

Prohibition was mostly spurred on by the organized crusades against social evil launched by the temperance movement. They targeted drinking establishments, which they viewed as the source of societal ills and misery. Initially, the temperance movement in Canada, which began in the 1820s, was largely concerned with the consumption of strong liquor, while beer, wine, and cider were not considered to be a significant problem. However, by the 1840s, "total abstinence" temperance societies were the norm, and all alcoholic beverages, including those with lighter alcohol content, were considered dangerous. [3] Inspired by the Maine Law of 1851, which saw legal prohibition in the US state of Maine, the temperance movement in Canada shifted to the strategy of legal coercion to advance the cause of sobriety. [4]

The main temperance organizations that emerged at the beginning of the prohibition era in Canada were the Dominion Alliance for the Total Suppression of the Liquor Traffic [5] and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) of Canada. [6] Protestant denominations, including Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians and Congregationalists, generally supported prohibition and campaigned for it beginning in the late 19th century. Prohibition was an important aspect of the Protestant Social Gospel. [7]

The WCTU established itself throughout much of Canada and the United States as one of the largest and most influential contributors to the temperance movement. [8] One way the WCTU attempted to spread the message of temperance was by pressuring provincial governments for temperance instruction in schools. [9] In 1892, under pressure from the WCTU and other temperance organizations, Nova Scotia enacted legislation requiring schools to teach students about the effects of alcohol on the human body. [10] By the end of the 19th century, through the efforts of the WCTU, most provinces had at least some temperance instruction in school. [11] The WCTU also looked outside of the formal school systems to promote temperance ideals to children, and also spread their message to Sunday schools, and youth groups. [12]

The Dominion Alliance was an umbrella organization that "included representatives from most temperance and prohibition societies," including the WCTU. [13] The group lobbied governments at various levels to enact prohibitory laws, and other legislation that advanced the cause of temperance. [13] They submitted a memorial, or a written statement of principles, to the nineteenth session of the Huron Diocese's Anglican Synod in 1876. In it they stated:

"The Council of the Alliance has agreed to the following principles as a basis to which they most respectfully but earnestly call your attention:

"DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES.

"1. That it is neither right nor politic for the Government to afford legal protection and sanction to any traffic or system that tends to increase crime, to waste the resources of the Dominion, to corrupt the social habits, and to destroy the healths and lives of the people.

"2. That the traffic in intoxicating liquors as common beverages is inimical to the true interests of individuals, and destructive of the order and welfare of society, and ought therefore to be prohibited.

"3. That the history and results of all legislation in regard to the liquor traffic abundantly prove, that it is impossible satisfactorily to limit or regulate a system so essentially mischievous in its tendencies.

"4. That no consideration of private gain or public revenue can justify the upholding of a traffic so thoroughly wrong in principle, so suicidal in policy, and disastrous in its results, as the traffic in intoxicating liquors.

"5. That the Legislative Prohibition of the liquor traffic is perfectly compatible with national liberty, and with the claims of justice and legitimate commerce.

"6. That the Legislative Prohibition of the liquor traffic would be highly conducive to the development of progressive civilization.

"7. That rising above sectarian and party considerations, all good citizens should combine to procure an enactment prohibiting the manufacture and sale of intoxicating beverages, as affording the most efficient aid in removing the appalling evils of intemperance."

"There may be differences of opinion in regard to the foregoing particulars, but the Council assures the Christian Body it has now the honor to approach, that the utmost diligence has been exercised in the examination of evidence on all the subjects embraced therein.

"Deeply convinced of the value of the aid of Christian Ministers and Churches, as such, we solicit your co-operation in the efforts now being made to concentrate the moral and religious energies of the Dominion against the liquor traffic.

"Your memorialists most earnestly hope that your counsels may be wisely directed, and that you will take such action in the premises as may strengthen the hands and encourage the hearts of those who have the direction of the Prohibitory Liquor Law movement." [14]

Legislation

Local option

Some legislative steps toward prohibition were taken in the 19th century. The passage of the Canada Temperance Act of 1864, also called the "Dunkin Act", in the Province of Canada, allowed any county or city to forbid the sale of liquor by majority vote. [15] After Canadian Confederation, local option was extended to the rest of Canada via the Canada Temperance Act of 1878. It was often known as the Scott Act after its sponsor Sir Richard William Scott. It also allowed any county or city to opt in to a prohibitionist scheme if there was a bare majority in a local vote. [16] Under the CTA, the sale of alcohol for sacramental or medicinal usage remained legal. [17]

Local option votes resulted in more than 240 places in Ontario being under local option prohibition by 1912. [18]

The Cardston, Alberta, licence district, which included the town and surrounding countryside, voted in favour of local option prohibition in 1902. [19]

Failed referendum

An official, but non-binding, federal referendum on prohibition was held in 1898. 51 percent voted in favour of prohibition, and 49 percent voted against. Voter turnout was low at 44 percent. Prohibition had a majority in all provinces except Quebec, where a strong 80 percent of the population voted against it. The main factor was religion. Pietistic Protestants, such as Methodists, Presbyterians and Scandinavian Lutherans, were strongly in support. Liturgical or high church Protestants, such as Anglicans and German Lutherans were in opposition; the Catholic population, both French and Irish, strongly opposed. Urban areas were more opposed than rural, but economic wealth made little difference. [20] Despite a prohibition majority, Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier's government chose not to introduce a federal bill on prohibition, because of strong opposition in Quebec, and low voter turnout. As a result, prohibition in Canada would only be enacted through individual sets of laws passed at the provincial level during the first twenty years of the 20th century.

Provincial and federal prohibition

In 1900–1919, one province after another went "dry." In March 1918 the federal government as a war measure made it illegal to manufacture "intoxicating" drinks. Most of the provinces enacted prohibition during the First World War, and opted to extend the ban on alcohol following the end of the war. Between 1878 and 1928 about 75% of Canadian breweries had closed. Notable extremes were Prince Edward Island which implemented prohibition as early as 1901, and Quebec which adopted prohibition in 1919 but quickly repealed it after intense public pressure. [21]

The First World War was an important factor in the success of prohibition efforts in Canada at the beginning of the 20th century. Many believed that prohibition would create a Canadian society worthy of the sacrifices of soldiers overseas. The argument was also raised that prohibition would benefit the war effort since it would prevent waste and inefficiency. Some also considered the barroom a place where "foreigners" congregated and "plotted" against the British Empire, and therefore the war effort. [22] As former opponents of prohibition became silenced, lest they be judged as unpatriotic, provinces began to implement prohibition.

Following the election of 1917 the federal government introduced national prohibition by an Order in Council that became effective on April 1, 1918. [23] It prohibited the importation of alcohol of more than 2.5 percent into Canada, the inter-provincial trade of alcohol, and included a ban on production. The wartime ban expired a year after the conclusion of the war. This was the first and last time that national prohibition on the production, distribution, and consumption of alcohol was enacted in Canada. [24]

First Nations

Indigenous peoples in Canada were subject to prohibitory alcohol laws under the Indian Act of 1876. [25] This was an attempt on the part of the Canadian government to facilitate assimilation, because for an indigenous person to possess alcohol they had to become a Canadian citizen through enfranchisement and to be eligible for enfranchisement indigenous people had to demonstrate sobriety. [25] The laws also reflected a widespread false belief among North Americans, that indigenous peoples were more prone to alcohol dependency, known as the "firewater myth." [26] Sections of the Indian Act regarding liquor were not repealed for over a hundred years, until 1985. [27]

Alcohol production in Ontario

Despite having prohibition from 1916 until 1927 in Ontario, the government allowed for numerous exceptions. Wineries were exempted from closure, and various breweries and distilleries remained open for the export market. [28] In Hamilton, Ontario, Rocco Perri specialized in exporting liquor from old Canadian distilleries, such as Seagram and Gooderham and Worts, to the United States, and helped these companies obtain a large share of the American market. [29] In London, Ontario, Harry Low and his group of rum-runners bought the Carling Brewery, while the Labatt family left the operations to the manager Edmund Burke. The fact that the "export" might be by small boat from Windsor across the river to Detroit only helped the province's economy. Rum-running occurred in other provinces as well.

Repeal

The dates for the repeal of prohibition are often debated.

Throughout the prohibition period, Ontario-made wines remained legal in Ontario and some have argued that Ontario never had prohibition. The government allowed the sale of light beer, considered to be non-intoxicating (and generally reviled by drinkers) in 1923, but it did not repeal the legislation creating prohibition until 1927, replacing it with the Liquor Control Act and creating the Liquor Control Board of Ontario to enforce the act. [30] Although some might argue the light beer amendment of 1923 ended prohibition, there is a general consensus among recent historians that 1927 is the date of repeal. [31]

Similar debates can be made across the country. This table should not be taken as definitive, but rather one interpretation of prohibition's end points.

Province/territoryProvincial prohibition enactedRepealed
British Columbia 19171921
Alberta 19161923
Saskatchewan 1915 [32] 1925
District of Keewatin 1876 [33] 1905
Manitoba 19161921
Ontario 19161927
Quebec 19191919
New Brunswick 1856 [34] 1856
19171927
Northwest Territories 18741891
Nova Scotia 19211930
Prince Edward Island 19011948
Yukon 19181920
Newfoundland (not part of Canada until 1949)19171924

Between the years of 1920–1925 five provinces voted to repeal prohibition. The elimination of alcoholic beverages had made a difference in Canadian society. The Ontario Alliance for the Total Suppression of the Liquor Trade stated in 1922 that the number of convictions for offenses associated with drink had declined from 17,413 in 1914 to 5,413 in 1921, and drunkenness cases had dropped from 16,590 in 1915 to 6,766 in 1921. [35] By the end of prohibition, nearly three quarters of beer breweries had closed. [36] It was only in the second half of the twentieth century that a significant number of new breweries opened again.

After the First World War, opponents of prohibition claimed that too many people were ignoring the law and drinking illegally, and that prohibition contributed to the expansion of organized crime and violence. The new slogans were 'Moderation' and 'Government Regulation.' Moreover, the denominations of Presbyterianism, Methodism, and Congregationalism voted to merge as the United Church of Canada, to create a stronger liberal voice. The possibility of new revenue led several provinces to introduce government control on the sale of alcohol and by the mid-1920s prohibition was fighting a losing battle. [37]

Most provinces repealed their prohibition laws during the 1920s. After the 1924 Ontario prohibition referendum narrowly upheld prohibition under the Ontario Temperance Act (OTA), the Ontario government led by Howard Ferguson permitted the sale of low-alcohol beer. Ferguson's successful re-election platform in 1926 included a repeal of the OTA. Prohibition was ended in 1927 following the election, and the Liquor Control Act (LCA) was passed supplanting the OTA. The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) was created to enforce the LCA by "controlling the sale of liquor to the public and the regulation of the places in which people could drink their booze." [38] The Liquor Control Act of 1927 allowed for the sale of alcoholic beverages for individual purchase, but public drinking of full strength alcohol (in pubs, taverns, restaurants, beverage rooms) remained illegal. Subsequently, the Liquor Control Act of 1934 permitted public drinking, but only in hotel beverage rooms where beer was permitted, and dining rooms where beer and wine was permitted with meals. [39]

Since each province had its own laws, [40] any attempt to generalize liquor control legislation distorts the situation. Quebec repealed prohibition in 1919; British Columbia in 1921, and this rolled across the country roughly west to east. Quebec had a more liberal system than most places in North America at the time. They legalized the sale of light beer, cider, and wine in hotels, taverns, cafes, clubs and corner stores in 1919. Two years later, faced with extensive smuggling of hard liquors, the province legalized the sale of spirits in government run stores.

Quebec, a convenient train ride from the eastern seaboard of the United States, became a mecca for thirsty Americans, even inspiring the song "Hello Montreal." [41] British Columbia's new law initially covered only public sale in stores. Public drinking remained illegal until 1925, when "beer by the glass" legislation permitted beer parlours to open in hotels. [42]

The 1923 Alberta prohibition plebiscite was conducted on Nov. 3, 1923, and a majority voted in favour of replacing Prohibition. The province repealed prohibition in 1924, along with Saskatchewan, upon realizing that the laws were enforceable only at great expense. In 1924 Alberta replaced Prohibition with government-store sales of beer, wine and hard liquor and licensed beer "parlours" selling beer under strict conditions.

Prince Edward Island was the last province to repeal prohibition in 1948.

Despite the lifting of provincial Prohibition laws, it still remained illegal for most types of liquor to be shipped across provincial borders, under the Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act, into the 21st century. In response, Okanagan MP Dan Albas tabled Bill C-311, which would repeal this restriction and allow the interprovincial distribution of wine (but not beer or spirits). With the promise of potential for increased investment in Canada's wine industry if the restrictions were lifted (owing to wineries finally being able to distribute their product nationally), the bill passed the House with a vote of 287–0 in June 2012. However, the exemption created by the amendment is subject to the laws of the province into which the wine is being shipped. So far, the provinces have responded inconsistently. For example, Ontario and British Columbia have permitted the interprovincial transport of wine on the person (up to one case), but have made no law or policy that allows interprovincial shipment of wine. [43]

Dry communities in Canada

Municipalities in Canada that have prohibited or restricted sale of alcohol within their borders:

Alberta

Cardston County, the western portion of the Warner County and the communities contained within their boundaries did not allow standing licenses for sale of liquor within their limits, previous to 2020. This area includes the communities of Cardston, Raymond, Magrath and Stirling. [44]

In June 2020 Alberta government cancelled its prohibition law in effect in these areas. Cardston passed a town bylaw to maintain prohibition.

In 2022 Raymond considered allowing alcohol sales. "In June of 2020, the province removed the last vestiges of the Prohibition Act and when that happened, Raymond went from prohibited community to a community without licence,” said Kurtis Pratt, Raymond’s chief administrative officer. [45] In a 2022 town survey a majority of 52 per cent of the 885 respondents opted for Raymond to remain a dry community, and the town council voted down a motion for a bylaw amendment to allow for restaurants in Raymond to have a liquor licence. [46]

A referendum in town of Cardston in June 2023 saw a majority vote to cancel prohibition. Town council voted to scrap the prohibition bylaw in September 2023, but still the issuance of the first license for sale of liquor was up to town council. [47]

Manitoba

Newfoundland and Labrador

Northwest Territories

Nunavut

There are also 12 communities that operate the committee system. In these communities anybody wishing to purchase alcohol must obtain permission, including the quantity, from a locally elected Alcohol Education Committee (AEC), before they are allowed to order from Iqaluit (Baffin communities), Rankin Inlet (Kivalliq communities), or Yellowknife (Kitikmeot communities). These communities are Arctic Bay, Cape Dorset, Chesterfield Inlet, Clyde River, Hall Beach, Igloolik, Kimmirut, Naujaat (Repulse Bay), Pond Inlet, Qikiqtarjuaq, Resolute Bay, and Whale Cove. Seven communities are unrestricted: Baker Lake, Cambridge Bay, Grise Fiord, Iqaluit, Kugluktuk, Rankin Inlet, and Taloyoak. [70] [71]

In May 2022 the hamlet of Kugluktuk voted to return to limit on alcohol sales. A total of 287 votes were cast. This was equivalent to 38 percent of eligible voters in the community whose total population is approximately 1,400. Sixty per cent of those voters opted for restrictions, which exceeds the 60-per-cent threshold that was required for change. [72]

Ontario

Quebec

Saskatchewan

Yukon

See also

Footnotes

  1. Bellamy, Matthew (May 2009). "Beer Wars". Canada's History. Canada's History. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017. ...they served up a watered-down response to the threat of prohibition.
  2. 1 2 Bellamy, Matthew J. (2009). "The Canadian Brewing Industry's Response to Prohibition, 1874-1920" (PDF). Journal of the Brewery History Society. pp. 2–17. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  3. Smart, Reginald George; Ogborne, Alan C. (Alan Charles) (1986). Northern spirits: drinking in Canada, then and now . Substance Abuse Librarians and Information Specialists (SALIS). Toronto: Addiction Research Foundation. pp.  19. ISBN   9780888681294.
  4. Craig, Heron (2003). Booze : a distilled history. Toronto, Ont.: Between the Lines. p. 152. ISBN   1896357830. OCLC   54454765.
  5. See The Journal of the Synod of the Church of England in the Diocese of Huron, Nineteenth Session, June 20-22, 1876. pp. 38, 45, 51, 142, 165. The Dominion Alliance formed just prior to the 1876 session
  6. Coombs, Adam James (2011). "Liberty and Community:The Political Ideas of Nineteenth-Century Canadian Temperance Movements". The Graduate History Review. 3 (1).
  7. Allen, Richard (1968). "The Social Gospel and the Reform Tradition in Canada, 1890–1928". The Canadian Historical Review. 49 (4): 387. doi:10.3138/CHR-049-04-03. ISSN   1710-1093. S2CID   154487598.
  8. Sheehan, Nancy M. (1984). "The WCTU and Educational Strategies on the Canadian Prairie". History of Education Quarterly. 24 (1): 101–119. doi:10.2307/367995. JSTOR   367995. S2CID   145405511.
  9. Sheehan, Nancy M. (1984). "National Pressure Groups and Provincial Curriculum Policy: Temperance in Nova Scotia Schools 1880-1930". Canadian Journal of Education. 9 (1): 74. doi:10.2307/1494450. JSTOR   1494450.
  10. Sheehan, Nancy M. (1984). "National Pressure Groups and Provincial Curriculum Policy: Temperance in Nova Scotia Schools 1880-1930". Canadian Journal of Education. 9 (1): 78. doi:10.2307/1494450. JSTOR   1494450.
  11. Sheehan, Nancy M. (1984). "The WCTU and Educational Strategies on the Canadian Prairie". History of Education Quarterly. 24 (1): 103. doi:10.2307/367995. JSTOR   367995. S2CID   145405511.
  12. Sheehan, Nancy M. (1984). "The WCTU and Educational Strategies on the Canadian Prairie". History of Education Quarterly. 24 (1): 113–114. doi:10.2307/367995. JSTOR   367995. S2CID   145405511.
  13. 1 2 Smart, Reginald George; Ogborne, Alan C. (Alan Charles) (1986). Northern spirits : drinking in Canada, then and now . Substance Abuse Librarians and Information Specialists (SALIS). Toronto : Addiction Research Foundation. pp.  22. ISBN   9780888681294.
  14. The Journal of the Synod of the Church of England in the Diocese of Huron, Nineteenth Session, June 20-22, 1876. p. 165, 166
  15. Smart, Reginald George; Ogborne, Alan C. (Alan Charles) (1986). Northern spirits : drinking in Canada, then and now . Substance Abuse Librarians and Information Specialists (SALIS). Toronto : Addiction Research Foundation. pp.  42. ISBN   9780888681294.
  16. Smart, Reginald George; Ogborne, Alan C. (Alan Charles) (1986). Northern spirits : drinking in Canada, then and now . Substance Abuse Librarians and Information Specialists (SALIS). Toronto : Addiction Research Foundation. pp.  44. ISBN   9780888681294.
  17. Boyce, Cyril D. (1923). "Prohibition in Canada". The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 109: 225–229. doi:10.1177/000271622310900125. JSTOR   1015012. S2CID   143096730.
  18. Edmonton Bulletin, Nov. 5, 1912
  19. Edmonton Bulletin, January 26, 1907; Lethbridge Herald, February 5, 1908, p. 11
  20. Dostie, Benoit; Dupré, Ruth (2012). ""The people's will": Canadians and the 1898 referendum on alcohol prohibition". Explorations in Economic History. 49 (4): 503–504. doi:10.1016/j.eeh.2012.06.005. ISSN   0014-4983.
  21. Bellamy, Matthew (April 2009). "Beer Wars". The Beaver. 89 (2): 16–23.
  22. Pistula, James M. (2008). For all we have and are: Regina and the experience of the Great War. University of Manitoba Press. pp. 75–76. Retrieved 2018-06-01.
  23. Bumsted, J.M. (2008). The Peoples of Canada: A Post-Confederation History, Third Edition . Oxford: University Press. pp.  218, 219. ISBN   978-0-19-542341-9.
  24. Maquis, Greg (2004). "Brewers and Distillers Paradise: American Views of Canadian Alcohol Policies". Canadian Review of American Studies. 34 (2): 136, 139.
  25. 1 2 Campbell, Robert A. (Winter 2008). "Making Sober Citizens: The Legacy of Indigenous Alcohol Regulation in Canada, 1777–1985". Journal of Canadian Studies. 42 (1). University of Toronto Press: 108. doi:10.3138/jcs.42.1.105. ISSN   1911-0251. S2CID   145221946.
  26. Campbell 2008, p. 106.
  27. Campbell 2008, p. 117.
  28. Prohibition's Hangover -- Ontario's Black Market in Alcohol Archived 2008-07-24 at the Wayback Machine
  29. "Rum runners and whisky cargoes: Toronto during Prohibition was anything but dry". thestar.com. 3 May 2015.
  30. Malleck "Niagara wine and the regulatory environment: 1850s-1944" in The World of Niagara Wine, ed. Michael Ripmeester, Phillip Gordon Mackintosh, and Christopher Fullerton (Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2013).
  31. Craig Heron, Booze: A Distilled History (Toronto: Between the Lines Press, 2003); Malleck Try to Control Yourself: The regulation of public drinking in post-prohibition Ontario, 1927-1944 (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2012). The year 1923 is the date set by Gerald Hallowell, in Prohibition in Ontario, 1919-1923 (Toronto: Ontario Historical Society, 1972)
  32. "Saskatchewan Settlement Experience". saskarchives.com. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
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  37. J.M. Bumsted, “The Peoples of Canada: A Post-Confederation History, Third Edition,” 260.
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  39. Dan Malleck, “An Innovation from Across the Line: The American Drinker and Liquor Regulation in Two Ontario Border Communities, 1927-1944.” Journal of Canadian Studies, vol. 41, 1, Winter 2007, 153, 154, 157. Malleck, Try to Control Yourself: The regulation of public drinking in post-prohibition Ontario 1927-1944 (Vancouver and Toronto: UBC Press, 2012)
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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prohibition</span> Outlawing of alcohol

Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage, transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic beverages. The word is also used to refer to a period of time during which such bans are enforced.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution</span> 1919 amendment establishing prohibition of alcohol

The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution established the prohibition of alcohol in the United States. The amendment was proposed by Congress on December 18, 1917, and ratified by the requisite number of states on January 16, 1919. The Eighteenth Amendment was repealed by the Twenty-first Amendment on December 5, 1933—it is the only constitutional amendment in American history to be repealed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temperance movement</span> Social movement against drinking alcohol

The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emphasize alcohol's negative effects on people's health, personalities and family lives. Typically the movement promotes alcohol education and it also demands the passage of new laws against the sale of alcohol, either regulations on the availability of alcohol, or the complete prohibition of it.

A local option is the ability of local political jurisdictions, typically counties or municipalities, to allow decisions on certain controversial issues within their borders, usually referring to a popular vote. It usually relates to the issue of alcoholic beverage, marijuana sales, and now mask wearing.

The Ontario Temperance Act was a law passed in 1916 that led to the prohibition of alcohol in Ontario, Canada. When the Act was first enacted, the sale of alcohol was prohibited, but liquor could still be manufactured in the province or imported. Strong support for prohibition came from religious elements of society such as the Ontario Woman's Christian Temperance Union, which sought to eliminate what it considered the societal ills and vices associated with liquor consumption, including violent behaviour and familial abuse. Historically, prohibition advocates in Ontario drew inspiration from the temperance movements in Britain and the United States. The Act was repealed in 1927.

A referendum was held in Ontario, Canada on October 20, 1919 on the legality of alcoholic beverages and the maintaining of prohibition. Prohibition had been passed by the provincial government in 1916 under the Ontario Temperance Act, though a clause required a referendum to be held in 1919 on whether the Act should be repealed and the previous licensing laws subsequently revived. A subsequent Act in 1919 provided three further questions for consideration, and subsequent implementation on approval. A majority voted against all four questions, and prohibition was maintained.

A referendum was held on October 23, 1924 on the repeal of the Ontario Temperance Act. The referendum was brought about by a clause in the Act, which permitted the possible repeal of prohibition by a majority vote. The referendum upheld prohibition, albeit by the narrowest majority of all of Ontario's prohibition referendums; in 1927, prohibition would be repealed with the passing of the Liquor Licence Act.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prohibition in the United States</span> Alcohol ban, 1920–1933

The Prohibition era was the period from 1920 to 1933 when the United States prohibited the production, importation, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages. The alcohol industry was curtailed by a succession of state legislatures, and finally ended nationwide under the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified on January 16, 1919. Prohibition ended with the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment, which repealed the Eighteenth Amendment on December 5, 1933.

The 1923 Alberta prohibition plebiscite, held on November 5, 1923, was a province-wide plebiscite held in Alberta, Canada, to allow alcoholic beverages. It was triggered by an affirmative vote in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and based on the presentation of a 56,000-name petition in accordance with the requirements of the Direct Legislation Act (1913), a citizens referendum law or initiative law, which was in force at the time.

Canadian liquor plebiscites, held in 1920 under the Canada Temperance Act and the Dominion Elections Act, were referendums on the strengthening of the Prohibition measures in effect in several provinces of Canada. Voters were asked if they supported banning of importation of liquor across provincial boundaries. The referendums were held on July 10, 1920, in New Brunswick; on October 20 in British Columbia; and on October 25 in Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan.

Alcohol laws of Australia are laws that regulate the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages. The legal drinking age is 18 throughout Australia. The minimum age for the purchase of alcoholic products in Australia is 18. A licence is required to produce or sell alcohol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcohol law</span> Law pertaining to alcoholic beverages

Alcohol laws are laws relating to manufacture, use, being under the influence of and sale of alcohol or alcoholic beverages. Common alcoholic beverages include beer, wine, (hard) cider, and distilled spirits. Definition of alcoholic beverage varies internationally, e.g., the United States defines an alcoholic beverage as "any beverage in liquid form which contains not less than one-half of one percent of alcohol by volume". Alcohol laws can restrict those who can produce alcohol, those who can buy it, when one can buy it, labelling and advertising, the types of alcoholic beverage that can be sold, where one can consume it, what activities are prohibited while intoxicated, and where one can buy it. In some cases, laws have even prohibited the use and sale of alcohol entirely.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcohol prohibition in India</span> Prohibition of alcohol in Indian states

Alcohol is prohibited in the states of Bihar, Gujarat, Mizoram, and Nagaland. All other Indian states and union territories permit the sale of alcohol.

The 1915 Alberta liquor plebiscite was the first plebiscite to ask voters in Alberta whether the province should implement prohibition by ratifying the proposed Liquor Act. The plebiscite was the culmination of years of lobbying by the province's temperance movements and agricultural groups, and was proposed through the recently implemented form of direct democracy, the Direct Legislation Act. Alberta voters approved the plebiscite on prohibition, which was implemented eleven months after the vote. The June 21, 1915 plebiscite was the first of three province-wide plebiscites held in a seven-year period related to liquor in Alberta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temperance movement in the United States</span> Efforts to reduce or end the consumption of alcohol

In the United States, the temperance movement, which sought to curb the consumption of alcohol, had a large influence on American politics and American society in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, culminating in the prohibition of alcohol, through the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, from 1920 to 1933. Today, there are organizations that continue to promote the cause of temperance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temperance movement in New Zealand</span>

The temperance movement in New Zealand originated as a social movement in the late-19th century. In general, the temperance movement aims at curbing the consumption of alcohol. Although it met with local success, it narrowly failed to impose national prohibition on a number of occasions in the early-20th century. Temperance organisations remain active in New Zealand today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominion Alliance for the Total Suppression of the Liquor Traffic</span>

The Dominion Alliance for the Total Suppression of the Liquor Traffic was an organization established in 1877 in Canada that lobbied for prohibition of alcohol. Membership was largely Protestant and Anglophone. The Dominion Alliance faced passive resistance from politicians concerned about the views of their constituents, particularly in Quebec, but had some success at the local level. Sale of alcohol was prohibited provincially and then nationally during World War I (1914–18). After the war the national and provincial temperance laws were repealed and the Dominion Alliance faded into irrelevance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis in the Northwest Territories</span>

Cannabis in the Northwest Territories became legal when the national Cannabis Act went into force on 17 October 2018.

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.

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