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P rotesters wave “red flag” on Plantagenet asphalt plant proposal
When an issue comes to a head
Beer. Did y our spirit suddenl y i m prove?
and it’s ti m e to add on to the e x isting s y s- te m with m ore options for consu m ers.” The association notes that the peti- tion, which was collected over the course of four weeks in late 2011, is the latest evidence of the widespread support for m odernizing Ontario’s alcohol retailing s y ste m to include convenience stores. People can sign the petition at www. freeourbeer.ca. “Ontario Convenience Store Association m e m bers are responsible co mm unit y re- tailers. We sell m ore age restricted prod- ucts than an y other retailer, and do a bet- ter job of checking for age than an y other retailer,” the organization sa y s. Last Ma y the OCSA unveiled an inde- pendent, third-part y my ster y shopping stud y that showed convenience stores were the best at age checks -- better at den y ing sales of age-restricted products to m inors than the foreign-owned Beer Store and the govern m ent-run LCBO. The OCSA is big. It is co m prised of 7,500 of the 11,000 convenience stores in the province. The convenience store industr y represents $13 billion in annual sales and e m plo y s over 69,000 people. More than 3 m illion people visit convenience stores in Ontario ever y da y . Ontario decision m akers have alwa y s been uptight about alcohol. You will recall that for y ears, the prov- ince treated i m bibers as if the y were cat- tle. Just recentl y , the govern m ent slack- ened the Beer Tent Law, changing rules so that adults would be able to wander around fairs and other such events with an alcoholic drink in hand. In the past, organizers had been obliged to set up beer tents, which ensured that drinkers were safel y corralled, and did not go craz y and ruin ever y thing for ever y one. Since last y ear’s a m end m ents, event organizers have m ore fle x ibilit y in designating the areas where booze can be consu m ed. Fle x ibilit y is not big when it co m es to Ontario’s liquor rules. While the province runs the LCBO, The Beer Store, which sells about 80 per cent of all the suds consu m ed in Ontario, is owned b y Labatt, Molson and Slee m an, which are in turn owned b y m assive cor- porations. “Free Our Beer.” It has a nice ring to it, eh? During the last election ca m paign, the Conservatives suggested that beer prices ought to be dropped. There was a lot of harru m phing fro m the Liberals, who inanel y suggested that if people had access to cheaper beer, the co mm oners would go wild and the province would go to hell. So m e would suggest that this feared cala m it y has alread y occurred. Have y ou been to Toronto latel y ? An y wa y , whenev- er politicians endorse ideas that see m too logical, and too popular, the y are accused of being c y nical, of tr y ing to endorse a no- tion si m pl y to score so m e political points. But beer in dépanneurs just m akes sense. And pandering to the m asses is not nec- essaril y a bad thing.
GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
Beer is one of those subjects that will, under m ost circu m stances, elicit a s m ile. It is like puppies, kittens and sabbatical. Beer is a feel-good topic. Yet, beer continues to be an issue in Ontario. The availabilit y of alcohol is a hot question, particularl y in this region, where the differences between Québec and Ontario liquor laws are underscored on a dail y basis. It is a no-brainer that Ontario dépan- neur owners ought to be able to sell beer and wine, just like their counterparts in Québec have done for decades. Ontario has a h y brid s y ste m . Most dé- panneurs cannot sell booze. But in des- ignated zones, private stores can house LCBO outlets. That is because the y are far enough fro m the nearest LCBO store and do not co m pete with the official govern- m ent-controlled stores. So y ou can bu y booze at a dépanneur in St-Eugène, for e x a m ple, but y ou cannot bu y the sa m e products at a Hawkesbur y corner store. Surve y s continuall y show that m ost Ontario residents support e x panding the alcohol retailing s y ste m to allow beer and wine to be sold b y m ore t y pes of retailers. A poll last y ear found that 67 per cent of respondents support private retailers, like convenience stores, selling alcohol like beer and wine. A m ajorit y of Ontarians across all regions also support the idea, with Eastern Ontarians showing the high- est level of support (71 % ). But the Ontario govern m ent is in no rush to alter the current arrange m ent, which is essentiall y run b y two m onopo- lies – the province and The Beer Store. If Glengarr y -Prescott-Russell Liberal M.P.P. Grant Crack wants to m ake new friends, and gain m ore votes, he m ight want to cha m pion the “Free Our Beer” m ove m ent. Dépanneurs in his riding surel y would benefit fro m additional rev- enues, and the voters would be pleased, too. Crack has no doubt heard of the latest push b y the Ontario Convenience Stores Association, which clai m s to have pre- sented the largest single petition collect- ed in Ontario. Signed b y 112,500 people fro m 220 co mm unities, the petition calls on the Ontario Legislature to broaden the alcohol retailing s y ste m to include conve- nience stores. “The alcohol retailing s y ste m in Ontario was designed in 1927 - 85 y ears ago - and hasn’t funda m entall y changed. But On- tarians are now speaking loud and clear: It’s ti m e we m oved the discussion forward on m odernizing alcohol retailing in On- tario to include convenience stores,” said Dave Br y ans, CEO of the association. “The people who have signed this petition are New De m ocrats, Liberals and Conserva- tives. The y ’re parents, neighbours and responsible adults who want the sa m e si m ple convenience that their friends and relatives outside Ontario enjo y . Conve- nience stores are alread y responsibl y of- fering alcohol in over 200 co mm unities
Plantagenet | A group of ho m eown- ers is taking a page out of the toreador ’ s m anual and dangling a red cloth in front of a co m pany that is bullish on setting up an asphalt plant next door to local far m - lands. “We’re going red,” said Suzanne Lavoie, with a chuckle, as she e x plained the first public relations tactic for No Zoning for Asphalt Plant for Plantagenet (NZAP), a grassroots protest group fighting a pro- posed asphalt plant project. P.B. Paving & Landscaping wants the zoning designation for so m e propert y on Concession 2 off of Count y Road 17 near Jessop’s Falls changed to allow develop- m ent of an asphalt plant. Neighbouring householders and far m ers opposed to the project are now t y ing red ribbons, scarves, T-shirts, and other pieces of cloth to their roadside m ailbo x es to catch the attention and provoke the curiosit y of passing m o- torists. “It’s to increase awareness,” Lavoie said. “There are still a lot of people who don’t know about this.” The future of the asphalt plant proposal hinges on the co m pan y getting approval fro m both the United Counties of Prescott- Russell (UCPR) and Alfred-Plantagenet Township for an a m end m ent to the UCPR Official Plan (OP) for land use in the area, which would then open the wa y for rezon- ing of the propert y . The m ain concerns for the group, and other residents in the area, are the envi- ron m ental and safet y i m pacts of an as- phalt plant in the neighbourhood. Local landowners are worried what effect the plant could have on the water table and air qualit y . There is concern about the sugges- tion that at full production, the plant could see up to 40 trucks an hour using Count y Road 17 as the m ain route in and out of the site. There are also worries about noise pollution. “The object of our group,” said Lavoie, “is to have the (township) council vote
Photo Gregg Cha m berlain
against the rezoning (request).” The group has a te m porar y website set up at www.nzap.ca, and is also working on plans to appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) if the OP and rezoning chang- es are allowed. An afternoon co mm unit y barbecue/infor m ation gathering is planned for August 11 at 6560 Count y Road 17, ad- jacent to the site for the proposed asphalt plant. For now the proposal is still in the review process. Other govern m ent m inistries and agencies like the South Nation Conserva- tion Authorit y (SNC) are reviewing the propos- al and sending briefs with their co mm ents and concerns. NZAP is collecting copies of as m an y of these briefs as are available for review and stud y . “We’re following this process ver y closel y ,” Lavoie said. “We want to keep the people infor m ed.” A public infor m ation and feedback ses- sion on the asphalt plant and the rezoning request was held Jul y 16. Another m a y be held at a later date. The m unicipalit y has a 180-da y grace period before council votes on the rezoning request. “It’s reall y a short ti m e,” Lavoie said. “We have to work reall y hard. The people have to m ake it ver y clear, so there is no doubt in the m inds of the councillors that when the y vote ‘no’, that is what we want.” Tying one on to express opposition
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Bertrand Castonguay , President, bertrand@eap.on.ca Roger Duplantie , D.G. / G.M., roger@eap.on.ca
François Bélair , Sales & Development, fbelair@eap.on.ca Yvan Joly , Sales director (Hawkesbury), yvan@eap.on.ca François Leblanc , Directeur (Lachute), francois.leblanc@eap.on.ca Gilles Normand , Production & Distribution Mgr., gilles.normand@eap.on.ca Julien Boisvenue , Layout & Prepress Mgr., julien.boisvenue@eap.on.ca
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