The Ontario Liberals will need to catch a few breaks if they are to climb out of the political basement in next month’s provincial election. They got one Monday, or so it seems at first glance.

A new Financial Accountability Office (FAO) report says the cost of expanding Ontario’s beer and wine retail network earlier than planned is about $600 million. That’s more than twice as much as the provincial government had indicated. If you really want a big number, then all the changes to the industry combined could reduce the government’s net booze take by $1.4 billion in total by the end of 2030.