Ontario alcohol expansion: Ford says convenience stores located near schools will be 'very responsible'

Days before Ontario opens up alcohol sales to convenience stores across the province, Premier Doug Ford says he has full confidence in retailers located near schools to sell beer and wine responsibly, despite concerns from the provincial secondary school teachers’ union president over student access to booze.

“[Convenience stores have] dealt with everything from tobacco to lottery tickets, now beer and wine, and they're going to be very responsible,” Ford said at an unrelated news conference in Brampton Tuesday morning.

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Ford made the comment in response to a question about the incoming expansion of alcohol sales, which referenced his government’s recent move to close 10 supervised consumption sites in Ontario due to their proximity to schools. That decision, which has been criticized by harm reduction advocates, was made in an effort to curb what Health Minister Sylvia Jones described last month as a resulting increase of crime at these sites.

“You're comparing a convenience store to a safe consumption site, injection sites,” Ford said when asked about why those sites within 200 metres of schools are closing down and alcohol sales are opening up.

“Last time I checked, the convenience stores don't have needles lying around the front of their stores, and they're well equipped.”

Starting Sept. 5, more than 4,000 convenience stores across the province will be licensed to sell beer, wine, and ready-to-drink cocktails, which the province has called the largest expansion of alcohol sales since the end of prohibition nearly 100 years ago.

The increase in access, without proper protections in place, is cause for concern for Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) President Karen Littlewood.

“If you have ever been to a convenience store that's located near a school during a lunch period, there's usually a lot of teenagers there…the kids, you know, they want to go and to be able to buy a snack or whatever, and now you'll have cans of beer available in the coolers too. So, you know, I'm concerned just in general about the access,” she said in an interview with CTV News Toronto on Tuesday.

According to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), licensed convenience stores will be permitted to sell alcohol between the hours of 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. seven days a week. Selling alcohol outside of those hours could result in a fine up to $50,000 or the suspension or revocation of a convenience store’s liquor licence.

The province’s move to close safe injection sites near schools aligns with the AGCO’s existing regulations on cannabis retailers, which aren’t allowed to operate within 150 metres of a school. However, there are currently no such regulations for licensed convenience stores located near schools

“So we have safe injection sites that have to be far away from schools, and I know we have to keep communities safe, but alcohol is available everywhere. There's a lot of conflicting information out there,” Littlewood said.