Ontario says no to convenience store wine and beer sales

Premier praises job LCBO and Beer Stores are doing to screen out sales to underage customers

Toronto (5 April 2007) - The Ontario government says it is not prepared to allow the sale of wine and beer at convenience stores across the province.

In making the decision, Premier Dalton McGuinty praised the socially responsible role now being played by employees of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) and Beer Store outlets in screening out sales to underage customers.

"It's really tough if you are underage in Ontario to buy wine or beer or liquor through the LCBO or Beer Store. It's a good system," McGuinty said this week, speaking in the legislature and to the media.

"(Parents) enjoy the fact that they feel tremendous confidence knowing that it's really tough if you are underage in Ontario to buy wine or beer or liquor through the LCBO or Beer Store," McGuinty said. "It's a good system. It ain't broke."

Lottery scandal

Another factor taken into account by the government is the recent scandal involving unscrupulous lottery ticket retailers in Ontario and elsewhere.

A report last month by Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin found that lottery ticket vendors pocketed at least $15 million in prizes that rightfully belonged to customers. The situation raises questions about how seriously convenience story operators, trying to maximize sales and profits, would try to screen out underage buyers.

The issue arose when a Niagara MPP, a member of the McGuinty government, introduced a private bill to allow the sale of wine, made with Ontario-grown grapes, and Ontario micro-brewery beer, in convenience stores.

McGuinty said he could not support the initiative. "It's not something we're prepared to do," he told reporters. NUPGE