This was one of the strangest things for me when I lived in Toronto. For some reason I always thought Canada was quite liberal with alcohol. LCBO stores were few and far between too. It was about a 30-40 min walk to my nearest one. Back in Ireland I can hit about 10 stores selling beer and liquor in that time! And there are a lot fewer drunks on the street.
Our liquor laws only look liberal because we're compared American absurdities like their 21-year drinking age and the the "no alcohol sales on Sunday" present in many states.
I feel there's a little of the old 'liberal Canadian' stereotype slipping in here. Toronto in particular has a very pious history. IIRC, there's one borough of Toronto (around High Park) that was officially dry until the early 1990s.
"Oh, for a half-hour of Europe after this sanctimonious icebox!", Wyndham Lewis famously said on visiting. Having said that, he was a bit of an old fascist - and I love Toronto dearly, however hung up about booze it is...
