Massive petition calls for alcohol sales at convenience stores
Posted July 25, 2012 9:31 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A massive petition – signed by more than 100,000 people hoping for a more convenient way to pick up some beer and wine – was delivered to Queen’s Park on Wednesday.
The Ontario Convenience Store Association (OCSA) is behind the push for an update to the province’s alcohol retail rules.
The petition, started by a convenience store owner in the hamlet of Vanessa, near Brantford, last year now contains 112,500 signatures from people in 220 communities, including Toronto, Oshawa, Mississauga, Barrie and others.
The OCSA claims its members are prepared to sell alcohol and do a better job of denying age-restricted products to minors. The group cites a third-party mystery shopping study that showed convenience store owners did better at blocking minors than the LCBO and the Beer Store.
The group also points to a 2011 Ipsos-Reid study that showed two-thirds of Ontarians want the option of buying booze at their corner store.
“The alcohol retailing system in Ontario was designed in 1927 — 85 years ago — and hasn’t fundamentally changed,” Dave Bryans, OCSA CEO, said. “But Ontarians are now speaking loud and clear: It’s time we moved the discussion forward on modernizing alcohol retailing in Ontario to include convenience stores.”
Bryans isn’t looking to overtake the LCBO, but wants convenience stores to operate alongside the provincially-run corporation.
“We believe this is the largest petition ever being brought forward here to Queen’s Park today,” Bryans added.
“They’re responsible adults who want the simple convenience of leaving the car at home and walking to their neighbourhood convenience store to get wine for dinner or drinks for the barbecue with their friends,” he said of those people who signed the petition.
