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Letter: Selling alcohol in corner stores could be harmful

I am writing today to address the recent push by Ontario’s convenience stores to have Ontario alcohol laws changed to allow beer and wine to be sold in Ontario convenience stores.
I am writing today to address the recent push by Ontario’s convenience stores to have Ontario alcohol laws changed to allow beer and wine to be sold in Ontario convenience stores.

Both the Beer Store and the LCBO have spent years establishing a high level of social responsibility.

Social responsibility is not some fancy word to accomplish stats, but rather a core value of our company to help eliminate risk of underage drinking and driving while impaired.

We work together in unison to keep underage kids from getting alcohol.

The Beer Store has spent over 87 years working with a mandate of responsible sale of beer, requesting over 3 million IDs (in 2013 alone) and helping to achieve Canada’s lowest drinking and driving stats.

The ODRP program (LCBO products) which was introduced a few years in conjunction with our Empty return program has deferred billions of bottles from landfills. We have created a program that in turn will make our tomorrow better and reduce our collective carbon footprint.

Let us also be mindful that this return program takes a massive burden off of the Ontario Blue box program and saves Ontarians tens of millions of dollars.

From a business point of view, the recent comments of Ontario’s convenience stores like to call The Beer Store an unfair monopoly that excludes local, small or craft brewers from selling their products.

The Beer Store in Ontario currently carries more than 400 brands from more than 100 different brewers, including many craft brewers. Our stores are open to any and all brewers from all over the world.

The availability of beer and wine in convenience stores where it will not be as closely monitored or as responsibly dealt with is not something that I want my children or anyone’s children exposed to.

These stores already put cigarettes and other deadly tobacco products in far too many underage hands. I, for one, do not want to see alcohol added to this current situation.

I don’t know why we destroy a system that is established for a new one with far too many negative consequences.

Derek Favretto
The Beer Store
Parry Sound, Ont