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...
