April 2007

 

Proposed Booze in Convenience Stores Quickly Knocked Down

Just about as fast as it was proposed, a private member's bill which would allow wine and beer to be sold in convenience stores was shot down by Premier McGuinty. Earlier this week, Liberal Kim Craitor from Niagara Falls put forth a proposal claiming such a move would raise the profile of Ontario producers and help roughly 3,000 convenience stores.

"It's no different than the system in Quebec - where alcohol is sold at corner stores - or the small LCBO outlets currently operating out of small convenience stores in northern and rural Ontario," Mr. Craitor said. "They've been doing it in Quebec for many, many years and haven't had any difficulty".

However, there are public health agencies who would disagree. The Ontario Public Health Association is against privatization of liquor sales in any form, be it through convenience or agency stores, which will ultimately result in more alcohol consumed per population and an increase in underage consumption.

In a letter dated January 2005 [PDF], and similar letters thereafter, the OPHA points out that "Decades of research show that higher overall alcohol consumption leads to more people suffering from liver cirrhosis, alcohol-related cancers, and other chronic diseases. It means more alcohol-related car crashes, drownings, and falls; more public disorder and more domestic violence".

As well, privatization in Alberta, as an example, has not been without problems as the last decade has seen an increase in overall alcohol consumption, social costs, regulation costs, enforcement costs, and higher retail prices as illustrated by Professor Greg Flanagan [PPT]. Since 1997 in Alberta, there has been a loss of market efficiency and there continues to be public concern around impaired driving, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, and underage intoxication.

Further, despite the "convenience" argument often touted in the media, the OPHA refers to a survey conducted by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health that showed "the vast majority of Ontario adults oppose alcohol initiatives that threaten public health and safety", such as expansion into convenience stores.

In response to this proposed private member's bill, Premier McGuinty said Ontario parents "…enjoy the fact that they feel tremendous confidence knowing it is really tough, if you are underage in Ontario, to buy wine or beer or liquor through the LCBO or a beer store," as captured in the recent OPSEU news release.

It may have been the fallout from the recent lottery scandal or a just published study out of Oregon showing the ease of buying booze in convenience stores versus liquor stores, which played a role in McGuinty's quick rebuttal to the proposed bill.

Regardless of the reason, selling alcohol in stores without a strong social responsibility mandate seems an unwise direction for public health and safety.

"Ideas like this have been floated previously," stated David Caplan, the minister responsible for the LCBO, adding he doesn't think this is a road we want to go down again and that he is not that interested in having the conversation.

Alcohol and Chronic Disease

To a packed house of over 100 delegates, expert speakers such as Dr. Norman Giesbrecht from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Deb Keen from Cancer Care Ontario, Pegeen Walsh from the Ministry of Health Promotion, and others, spoke at the Harbour Front Community Centre in Toronto about the importance of identifying alcohol as a risk factor when associating with chronic diseases such as cancers and stroke.

"It was encouraging to see representation from not only different levels of government including local, provincial and federal, but also different provinces including Nova Scotia and British Columbia," said Denise DePape from Toronto Public Health, the Master of Ceremonies for the day- long forum. "Other jurisdictions are dealing with the same problems as Ontario with respect to alcohol and chronic diseases, so learning from each other will add strength going forward as we tackle this problem here in Ontario."

"Alcohol consumption has been causally linked with over 60 chronic diseases and acute conditions, including several types of cancer, and the role of alcohol as a risk factor for chronic disease deserves to be more widely acknowledged," said Dr. Norman Giesbrecht, Senior Scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in a recent press release [PDF]. "There are also associations between high risk drinking and other risk factors for chronic disease, such as smoking, unhealthy eating, obesity, and illicit drug use"

Materials from the forum are available for download from the Teleconferences page of our website.