Small distillers should be treated the same as craft brewers and wineries.

That’s the opinion of Niagara-area MPP and former Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak who says you should be able to buy bottles of liquor on-site like you can at wineries and breweries.

Hudak is calling for changes to Ontario’s “backwards and outdated liquor laws” that prohibit distillers from selling customers a drink on site and force them to ship their products to the LCBO for distribution to bars and restaurants.

He says there has been an explosion of small distillers in the US and worries Ontario’s laws are discouraging a similar growth here.