Selling liquor has been described as having a license to print money, and like all provincial liquor utilities, the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation turns a hefty profit.

But an investigation by CTV News has found the NSLC’s operating expenses have skyrocketed, while the amount of product being sold has not.

The chartered accountant who leads the provincial Tories says costs have just about doubled, but the NSLC says he needs to learn how to read a balance sheet.  

According to the NSLC, liquor sales have been booming over the past decade.

“The growth of sales has gone up 32 per cent,” says Rick Perkins of the NSLC.

However, the amount of actual booze going out the door has increased by only 11 per cent.

“There are no more Nova Scotians here than 10 years ago and we’re not selling much more product since then, over 10 years, but operating expenses are up dramatically,” says Nova Scotia Tory Leader Jamie Baillie.

“I’m surprised at the rate these expenses have gone up inside this monopoly,” says provincial Liberal leader Stephen MacNeil.

According to annual reports, expenses have gone from about $50 million to nearly $100 million in that time, not counting the actual cost of liquor.

“Depending on what year you start with, they’ve almost doubled,” says Baillie. “Double the cost of operations, while delivering the same amount of product to the same number of people.”

“Jamie is incorrect,” says Perkins. “Jamie doesn’t know how to read a balance sheet.”

“Well, I did when I became a chartered accountant,” says Baillie. “Maybe Mr. Perkins is engaging in an attack ad.”

Perkins says the corporation has the lowest store operating cost of any retailer in Canada.

“The operating expense ratio has stayed relatively the same over those years, while delivering $70 million more in profit,” says Perkins.

Perkins conceded that the expense ratio has gone up by 25 per cent.

“If I were reporting to my board of directors that I sold the same amount of products over ten years, but doubled our operating costs, there would be a problem,” says Baillie.

“So what are those expenses? Why was there such an increase?” asks MacNeil.

Perkins insists expenses have increased by only 40 per cent. However, he says the increase is for improvements, such as cold beer lockers. 

He says the business has changed in the last decade. Finance Minister Maureen MacDonald agrees, but is looking for cost controls.

“Certainly, the focus will be on increasing and improving efficiency within the commission,” says MacDonald.

Baillie says it is time to look at how liquor is sold in Nova Scotia, to make it fair to taxpayers and customers.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Rick Grant