FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 5, 2006
Time to put a cap on
McGuinty’s “teen drinking program,” Casselman says
TORONTO: The president
of the union representing Ontario liquor workers says it’s
time for the McGuinty government to place strict curbs on the
LCBO’s “agency stores” program.
Agency stores are private
businesses that are licensed to sell alcohol in small
communities.
“Agency store owners have a
direct stake in maximizing alcohol sales,” said Leah
Casselman, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees
Union. “The profit motive will always be in direct conflict
with the need to halt sales to minors. That’s why I call
agency stores ‘the McGuinty teen drinking program.’”
From 1995 to 2005, the number
of agency stores in Ontario doubled from 82 to 194. In May
2006, the McGuinty government announced plans for 20 more.
“LCBO staff ask 4,700 customers
a day to prove that they are of legal drinking age, and we
refuse to serve more than 300 of them,” Casselman said. “No
private operator will ever achieve that standard of social
responsibility when there’s money on the counter.”
In a presentation to the
Standing Committee on Government Agencies today, Casselman
proposed strict limits on the agency store program. Among
several recommendations, OPSEU proposes:
- an immediate freeze on new
agency stores pending a full review of the program;
- stricter oversight of agency
stores by the LCBO;
- restrictions on their hours
of operation;
- elimination of agency stores
in cases where the sales volume could support an LCBO kiosk
or stand-alone LCBO store; and
- municipal approval of any
new agency store.
“The McGuinty government has
vowed not to privatize the LCBO, but agency stores are
privatization by stealth,” Casselman said. “These stores come
with a cost that Ontarians who love their kids are not
prepared to pay.”
A copy of the
OPSEU
submission to the Standing Committee on Government Agencies,
is available at www.opseu.org
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Further information:
Randy Robinson (416)
448-7441; (416) 788-9134 (cell)
