The National Pist is having a rally to bring the pint back to metric Canada. The Rally will be held at O'hanlon's in Regina, Sk at 7pm.
The National Pist
GET THE PINT YOU PAID FOR!
One Pint Should Equal One Pint.
By A.G. Morgan.
Every day thousands of Canadian drinkers are cheated out of twelve to sixty percent of the beer they buy at pubs, bars, and restaurants. And a growing number of Canadian citizens are beginning to realize what The National Pist has been crying out for years: that it’s time to get the pint you paid for!
While the nation was flocking to theatres to watch Star Wars, the Canadian government was robbing them of their right to an entire pint. In 1977 the metric system overtook the restaurants and bars of Canada and the imperial pint ceased to be a legally recognized measurement for alcoholic beverages. As a result, Canada has become a country of short sellers who will charge you a pint’s worth of alcohol for anything between 8 to 23 ounces of beer.
According to Weights & Measures Devices of Canada, one pint, which equals 20oz. or 568.2ml, may be served as much as 12 oz. short. That means one cup, or 8oz., can still be called a "pint." Even the new so-called standard ‘Pint Glass’ in Canada is equal to only 500ml, or 17.6 oz. If you go to a pub where they use only 16oz. ‘pint’ glasses, a $6.00 pint of Guinness leaves you out more than a dollar’s worth of beer. You’re short a whole ‘pint’ if you buy five! The problem is that the size of your pint is determined not by government regulation but by the man or woman at the beer tap.
If you go to a pub where they use only 16oz. ‘pint’ glasses, a $6.00 pint of Guinness leaves you out more than a dollar’s worth of beer.
We’ve all seen the commercials: one pint of beer (8-20 oz.) equals one glass of wine (8oz.) equals one shot of hard liquor (1oz.). Without a precise standard, though, this phrase is misleading and potentially dangerous. Knowing how much you are drinking is important not just for legal reasons, but also for your own welfare. Alcohol is a controlled substance and is heavily regulated for the safety of the consumer. Imagine if you had a prescription for a controlled substance in a 50mg dosage and the pharmacists gave you up to 40% more or less than you needed? The potential for danger is obvious. Regulating the size of a pint glass is not just a consumer affair, but a question of public safety!
While the detriment to safety may be hard to gauge, the loss to your wallet is not. Here’s how the numbers break down and leave you broke. Given that, at best, a Canadian pint measures 17.6 (500ml) and costs an average of $6.00, you’re getting 88% of what you pay for. This translates to a loss of 72¢ per pint. If that seems insignificant – 72¢ won’t even get you a biscotti at Starbuck’s – consider that Canadian pubs, bars and restaurants sold 4,612,645 ‘pints’ of draught beer in 2002, which means that consumers got gouged $2,889,014 in one year, or nearly $8,000 every day.
Despite these millions of dollars lost to the consumer every year, the Canadian government refuses to acknowledge the importance of the issue -- to them it’s just small beer. Although the Competion Bureau of Canada has the authority to enforce a Pint Policy, they don’t. If you feel your pints have been poorly poured, they might review your complaint, but in most cases, complainants are better off keeping their grievances to themselves. An investigation will likely only result in contacting the offending parties informally to encourage voluntary compliance. In extreme cases, the Bureau may issue a public alert to educate consumers against being "misled by certain marketing practices," or they may employ "various tools" to obtain voluntary compliance. Only as a last resort will the Competition Bureau take a case to the courts. In other words, the Competition Bureau is not about to act on the matter without a sustained public attempt to draw attention to it.
Unlike Canadians, the British have a tradition of standing up fortheir pints. In the Middle Ages , the Chester Mystery Plays depicted the story of the Harrowing of Hell, in which the resurrected Jesus frees all the souls languishing in the eternal fires – all, that is, except the barkeep who sold short pints. In recent years, British consumers were estimated to be losing as much as 1 million ($2.4 million CAD) every day on short pints before they brought in the Fair Measures Act, which recognized a full pint. Tony Blair, in his bid for Prime Minister, promised British consumers the Fair Measures Act as part of his platform. CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, still fights to ensure that customers get those pints they deserve. The success of British advocacy groups is demonstrated by the fact that, while the rest of the UK parcels its goods out in metric, pubs still sell their beer by the imperial pint. In the heart of metric Europe, Austria has made it illegal to sell draught beer in anything other than a pint. The EU itself has been forced to recognize the pint as the legal measurement for draught beer.
Fortunately for Canadian consumers, the fair pint movement has crossed the Atlantic and is coming to a frosty head in our country. Comedian and celebrity Colin Mochrie, in a recent conversation with The National Pist, expressed his surprise and disbelief: “I think it’s outrageous that we haven’t got pints. What’s happened to the Canada of my youth?... Drinking pints – it’s part of our heritage!”
“I think it’s outrageous that we haven’t got pints. What’s happened to the Canada of my youth?... Drinking pints – it’s part of our heritage!” -Colin Mochrie
Even our national media has taken notice. CBC Radio’s Definitely Not the Opera recently interviewed The National Pist founder Cloudesley Hobbs on the pint issue, and DNTO commentator Nick Purdon has picked up the issue and run with it. As Purdon points out: "Health care is complicated.... But pints are simple. Anyone can understand the importance of real pints in real pint glasses. And besides it's our heritage. Let's give the government hell over this one!" Purdon, who has aired his hunt for the perfect pint every Saturday for a month now, intends to take the matter all the way to Paul Martin. Given this kind of attention, and considering that an election is on the horizon, the fight for a fair pint stands a fighting chance of becoming a plank in candidates’ platforms. With your help it will.
The next step is up to you. Never before have Canadian beer drinkers been presented with such an opportunity to make their voices heard. DNTO has set up a ‘pint hotline’ where you can phone in, voice your outrage and get information at 204-788-3182. The National Pist also encourages pint drinkers to make themselves heard at their local pub. Make Saturday, February 17th Pint-Fight Day! Signs, posters, and pint-sized coffins are more than appropriate. For suggestions on turning your slow Saturday afternoon into a harvest of grassroots action, contact The National Pist at our website:
www.pist.ca. This February The National Pist will take the fight to the next level: we will be faxing out the pint petition to local residences and businesses so YOU can join in. The Pint Petition can also be downloaded from our website.
Our most important step in the fight for a fair pint is our petition. Take the time to defend your rights. If you want the pint you pay for, sign the petition and we’ll march it to Parliament, with DNTO and drinkers across this country at our side.
GET THE PINT YOU PAID FOR –DEMAND NOTHING LESS THAN A REAL PINT.
PINT FIGHT 2004 
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