If the Brewery Distributors Union strike continues, the unthinkable may happen - island liquor stores and bars might run out of beer.
"You can feel the panic," said Tara Ray at the Masset liquor store. "What I have is basically it, and it might last until next week." She said that Budweiser is their biggest seller, and predicts that it will be the first to fizzle. "Our warehouse is really tiny," said Ms. Ray, "it can only hold a few pallets of Bud."
She said that the other brands of beer will hold out a little longer. "People will buy other beers - but how long will that last?"
The Brewery Distributors' Strike started last Monday, and is affecting distribution throughout BC.
The situation at Mile Zero Pub is equally dire. Proprietor Steve Marshall said that his supply of beer might only last the weekend. Then what?
Well, you could make a trip to Sandspit - Dean Olson at Super-Valu said that his supply of beer should be good for "two or three weeks." He said that when he was placing his last order, some things had already run out. "But I got about 95 per cent of what I ordered," he said. Mr. Olson thinks that things will be all right, "unless the strike goes on."