Demon Rum or Easy Money: Government Control of Liquor in British Columbia from Prohibition to Privatization

Louis A. Knafla is a history professor at the University of Calgary.

“Demon rum” was actually of little consequence in the history of
British Columbia after the era of exploration; the same cannot be said,
however, for easy money. The latter has beckoned to settlers and
merchants there throughout the ages. And other “spirits,” ranging
from beer and wine to whiskey, had an important influence in the history
of Canada’s Pacific province. Campbell, a Manitoban who is chair of
the social sciences division at Vancouver’s Capilano College, has
provided a detailed, and clearly written, account of the history of
alcohol control in B.C. Beginning substantively with the province’s
plebiscite of 1898, he brings the reader through the prohibition
movement of World War I, the abolition of prohibition in 1920, the
government liquor acts of 1921 and 1925 (which became a model for other
Canadian provinces), the liberalization movement of the post-World War
II era (which coincided with increasing consumption), the revival of the
temperance movement in the 1970s, and the liberalization of government
legislation in 1986.

The author charts a careful journey between the shoals of prohibition
and the free market. Throughout the narrative account, he explores the
theme of government control in terms of access to, authority over, and
the politics and morality of control. In addition, he emphasizes the
various tensions that existed between regulation and revenue, and
between politics and patronage. Placing a heavy emphasis on an analysis
of the 1920s and the 1950s, Campbell manages to balance rather carefully
the role of institutions and the social context in the licencing
process. While it does refer to the comparative context, the book could
have used more British, American, and Canadian context, and more
consideration of the Pacific Northwest beyond the narrow confines of the
Vancouver-Victoria nexus.

This is a highly informative book, based on the widest possible
sources. Newspapers, government documents, legislative records, and the
papers of the Liquor Control Board, the Association of Canadian
Distillers, and the Brewers Association of Canada have shed their
various perspectives and insights on what will become an important study
of the history of government control of alcoholic beverages in Canada.
There are useful tables in the appendix on alcohol price indexes,
consumption per capita, and government revenues. A comprehensive index
not only covers all the important terms and topics, but is also complete
on major subjects, personal names, and places.