38-year-old man from Toronto drowns while swimming in northeastern Ontario lake

Convenience stores across Ontario are allowed to sell booze as of Thursday as the province significantly loosens its grip on the alcohol marketplace.

Corner stores are excited about the change and expect foot traffic to increase significantly, said Kenny Shim, the president of the Ontario Convenience Store Association, which represents about 7,000 of 10,000 such stores across the province.

“I have to admit, I’m excited, we’re all excited because sales are down because of the bad economy,” Shim said.

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario said that by Tuesday it had granted 4,200 licences to convenience stores. That means roughly 40 per cent of convenience stores will be able to sell beer, wine, cider and ready-to-drink cocktails.

All grocery stores will be able to sell alcohol by Oct. 31, but spirits will only be available in Liquor Control Board of Ontario stores and outlets.

Shim said the development for convenience stores is a lifeline to many stores that have seen tobacco sales plummet, which he attributes to the rise of illegal tobacco sales and a slumping economy.

“When people come to buy a beer, they’ll buy some peanuts, maybe some cups for beer pong, some beef jerky, bottle openers, that kind of stuff,” he said.

The stores will be allowed to sell alcohol from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., and 20 per cent of beer, cider and premixed cocktails on display must be from small Ontario producers, while 10 per cent of wine on display must be devoted to small Ontario wineries.

Convenience stores must remain vigilant about following the rules, Shim said, because the penalties for breaking the law, like selling to minors or to those who are intoxicated, are severe. They range from fines, upward to $50,000, and the loss of the liquor licence.

“I really like it because I am a law-abiding citizen and we know that the province will be out with inspectors,” Shim said.

“I have children, too, and the last thing I want is to sell to a minor, plus the penalties are so severe that it’s not worth risking your entire business for a few bottles of beer.”

The changes fulfil a 2018 campaign pledge from Premier Doug Ford, who promised to bring beer and wine to corner stores.

A 10-year-deal with The Beer Store stood in the way of that promise until May, when Ford said he had broken the deal and brokered a new one with the company. The Beer Store, owned by three international conglomerates, will be paid $225 million taxpayer dollars under the new deal.

Part of the new agreement with the Beer Store includes keeping at least 386 stores open until July 2025 and at least 300 until Dec. 31, 2025. The Beer Store will continue with its widely respected recycling program until at least 2031.

“This is good for choice and it’s really good for a local jobs,” Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy said in an interview. “So I’m feeling really good.”

The LCBO came to existence in 1927 as the province pulled out of Prohibition with tight controls on alcohol.

“This is a big, big reform, but one that the people really want and we’re delivering it,” Bethlenfalvy said.

Several health organizations, including Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, have expressed concern and disappointment with the move to expand alcohol sales.

They say the easier access to alcohol will increase dependence, cause chronic diseases, and increase injuries, suicides, and impaired driving.

Bethlenfalvy said the government has spoken to numerous health organizations about the change.

“We take it extremely seriously, social responsibility,” he said.

Increased access to alcohol corresponds to increased consumption and with that come more health risks, said Dr. Leslie Buckley, chief of the addictions division at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

“This would be a great time, obviously, to invest in more treatment for alcohol,” she said.

“It’s not necessarily easy to get treatment early on or even at the stage of moderate difficulties with alcohol and it would be really great to be able to intervene earlier and give people access to treatment.”

The province has said it will spend $10 million to support social responsibility and public-health efforts related to the consumption of alcohol as part of its 10-year, $3.8 billion mental-health plan.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 5, 2024.

Corner stores across Ontario are now legally allowed to sell certain types of alcohol. Here’s what you should know about the province’s rules around booze in convenience stores:

– Some 4,200 convenience stores out of the estimated 10,000 such outlets across Ontario have been issued licences to sell beer, cider, wine and ready-to-drink cocktails.

– Convenience stores can only sell alcohol from 7 a.m. until 11 p.m.

– Corner store staff must be trained to sell alcohol from an approved training outfit such as SmartServe.

– If a customer appears to be younger than 19 – the legal age for buying alcohol in Ontario – staff must ask for valid identification.

– Stores cannot sell alcohol to those who are, or appear to be, intoxicated.

– Beer, wine, cider and pre-mixed cocktails sold in corner stores must contain 7.1 per cent alcohol volume or less.

– Wine must contain no more than 18.1 per cent alcohol by volume.

– At least 20 per cent of containers of beer, cider and ready-to-drink cocktails on display must be produced by small Ontario breweries, cideries and distilleries.

– At least 10 per cent of wine on display must come from small Ontario wineries.

– Samples of beer, wine, ciders and cocktails are not permitted.

– Convenience stores can offer delivery of alcohol so long as it comes from their in-store stock.

– Convenience stores do not have to accept empties or provide refunds, but must post the nearest location where those can be returned.

– The Beer Store will continue to run its provincewide recycling program until at least 2031.

– Stores can lose their license for violating rules.

– In mid-July, previously licensed grocery stores that sold beer, cider or wine were able to begin selling ready-to-drink cocktails

– By Oct. 31, grocery and big-box stores will be able to sell beer, cider, wine and ready-to-drink cocktails that includes large pack sizes.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 5, 2024.

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OTTAWA – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh may hold the key to trigger the next election now that he’s axed his political pact with the Liberals, but strategists say that could prove to be both an asset and a liability.

Singh put an end to the deal the Liberals have relied on since 2022 to keep their minority government from toppling, but he has not signalled plans to vote to bring down that government before the next scheduled election.

The party deliberately spread word that the end of the deal does not mean an election is looming, but that each vote would be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Singh would not take any questions after announcing the news in a video on social media Wednesday, but is expected to hold a press conference Thursday in Toronto.

The decision comes as the Conservatives lead both the Liberals and the NDP in the polls, and Singh tries to position himself as the only viable alternative to Tory Leader Pierre Poilievre.

The NDP will likely want some runway to differentiate themselves from the Liberals before the next election, said Mélanie Richer, Singh’s former director of communications and a principal with Earnscliffe Strategies.

“I think they really need to spend the next year talking to those voters who are looking for change in a way that’s a little bit less close to the government, that shows the concrete things that they’ve been able to do to make people’s lives better,” she said.

The deal has accomplished most of what the NDP had demanded, including a new national dental-care program, and, from a strategic perspective, gave Singh some added credibility with voters, she said.

But while the New Democrats have won over some support from former Liberal voters, they’ve also lost ground to the Conservatives, she said.

Singh may want time to offer his “vision of change that’s very different from the Conservatives,” she said.

Poilievre has won favour with working-class voters that in the past may have traditionally supported the NDP in key ridings, including in northern Ontario, said Conservative strategist Ginny Roth.

The Conservative leader is likely to continue to take aim at Singh for propping up the government, as he has for months.

Just hours after Singh said that he had pulled out of the deal, Poilievre had already called the announcement a “stunt” and challenged Singh to vote to bring down the government at the next opportunity.

“There’s an easy way for the NDP to avoid that line of attack, and that’s to either defeat the government, or to demand something from the government that the government’s not willing to give, or that will be difficult for the government to give,” said Roth, who served as Poilievre’s director of communications during his leadership race.

“They haven’t done that since 2015 and I don’t think they have any plans to.”

Continuing to support the government in upcoming confidence votes could be a political risk for Singh, said Andrew Perez, a longtime Liberal and strategist with Perez Strategies.

But it’s likely less of a risk than remaining tied to the Liberals at this point, he said.

“Pierre Poilievre will no doubt attack Singh as being someone that propped up Trudeau and has no credibility,” he said.

“I think it will all come down to how persuasively he is able to communicate.”

The political landscape was drastically different when the deal was signed in 2022.

The Liberal government had just renewed its mandate less than a year earlier. The federal government had recently declared a state of emergency after the “Freedom Convoy” demonstration gridlocked downtown Ottawa and international border crossings in protest against COVID-19 restrictions. The Russian invasion of Ukraine had just begun. And Pierre Poilievre had not yet been elected leader of the Conservatives.

Throughout the last tumultuous few years, Singh has helped Trudeau hold onto the longest-serving minority government in a very long time, Perez said.

If Singh’s decision leads to an early election now, it would be a political win for Poilievre’s Conservatives, he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 5, 2024.