The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO; French: R\u00e9gie des alcools de l\u2019Ontario) is a Crown corporation that retails and distributes alcoholic beverages throughout the Canadian province of Ontario. It is accountable to the Ministry of Finance. It was established in 1927 on the advice of Ontario Premier Howard Ferguson, to sell liquor, wine, and beer. Such sales had been banned outright in 1916; thus, the creation of the LCBO marked an easing of the province's temperance regime (see Prohibition in Canada). By September 2017, the LCBO was operating 651 liquor stores.The LCBO maintains a \