Albertans adjust to new 'sin taxes'

Smoking and drinking got a little more expensive for Albertans on Wednesday as retailers raised prices to comply with measures in this week'sprovincial budget.

It will now cost people $3 more to buy a carton of cigarettes.A price of a 12-pack of beer went up $1.30.The price of wine and spirits also increased, 75 cents and $2.89 respectively, for a 750 ml bottle.

On Tuesday evening, people in Edmonton hadmixed reactions to the news.

"Oh my God. It sucks!" said Bev Lapratt.

"It's a luxury. It's not an essential of life,"said Kim Riley. "You know, I think you gotta pay to play."

"The fuel gets to me more than anything,"said Frank Stolk."The small taxes like this for cigarettes and beer?I should quit smoking anyway."

Liquor stores in Alberta, whichare privately owned,get their stock from a central distributor. They will notice the price change in the markups the distributor charges them.

Changes will hit bottom line for businesses

Calgary liquor store owner Andrew Shortreed noticed the change on Wednesday, when his order cost him $2,000 more than last week.

"There were a lot of things I had to cut off of my order, so that I would have enough money to do it," he said.

Staff at Willow Park Wine and Spirits in southeast Calgary are scrambling to adjust prices on all of their products just before the Easter long weekend, one of their busiest times of the year.

'It'll probably cost us, based on last year's sales alone, about $45,000 this year, just due to this increase yesterday.' Lance Hurtibise, restaurateur

"It is really tricky for us," said Peggy Perry, the store's vice-president of purchasing and marketing. "We're the largest store in Alberta. We order every day of the week and so everything we order today will be increased."

The provincial tax increase will hurt the bottom line for Vintage Group, which owns six restaurants in Calgary, at a time when the industry is already slowing.

The company just released new menus with reduced liquor prices to keep bringing in customers.

"It's a substantial hit," Vintage Group owner Lance Hurtibise told CBC News about the tax increase. "It'll probably cost us, based on last year's sales alone, about $45,000 this year, just due to this increase yesterday."

The new taxes are expected to netthe province millions of dollars in additional revenue, with $70 million coming from cigarette taxes, and $180 million coming from liquor markups.

The province last raised liquor markups in 2002.