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P rotesters wave “red flag” on Plantagenet asphalt plant proposal
When an issue comes to a head
Beer. Did your spirit suddenly improve?
and it’s time to add on to the existing sys- tem with more options for consumers.” 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 modernizing Ontario’s alcohol retailing system to include convenience stores. People can sign the petition at www. freeourbeer.ca . “Ontario Convenience Store Association members are responsible community re- tailers. We sell more age restricted prod- ucts than any other retailer, and do a bet- ter job of checking for age than any other retailer,” the organization says. Last May the OCSA unveiled an inde- pendent, third-party mystery shopping study that showed convenience stores were the best at age checks -- better at denying sales of age-restricted products to minors than the foreign-owned Beer Store and the government-run LCBO. The OCSA is big. It is comprised of 7,500 of the 11,000 convenience stores in the province. The convenience store industry represents $13 billion in annual sales and employs over 69,000 people. More than 3 million people visit convenience stores in Ontario every day. Ontario decision makers have always been uptight about alcohol. You will recall that for years, the prov- ince treated imbibers as if they were cat- tle. Just recently, the government 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 safely corralled, and did not go crazy and ruin everything for everyone. Since last year’s amendments, event organizers have more flexibility in designating the areas where booze can be consumed. Flexibility is not big when it comes to Ontario’s liquor rules. While the province runs the LCBO, The Beer Store, which sells about 80 per cent of all the suds consumed in Ontario, is owned by Labatt, Molson and Sleeman, which are in turn owned by massive cor- porations. “Free Our Beer.” It has a nice ring to it, eh? During the last election campaign, the Conservatives suggested that beer prices ought to be dropped. There was a lot of harrumphing from the Liberals, who inanely suggested that if people had access to cheaper beer, the commoners would go wild and the province would go to hell. Some would suggest that this feared calamity has already occurred. Have you been to Toronto lately? Anyway, whenev- er politicians endorse ideas that seem too logical, and too popular, they are accused of being cynical, of trying to endorse a no- tion simply to score some political points. But beer in dépanneurs just makes sense. And pandering to the masses is not nec- essarily a bad thing.
GREGGCHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
Beer is one of those subjects that will, under most circumstances, elicit a smile. It is like puppies, kittens and sabbatical. Beer is a feel-good topic. Yet, beer continues to be an issue in Ontario. The availability of alcohol is a hot question, particularly in this region, where the differences between Québec and Ontario liquor laws are underscored on a daily 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 hybrid system. Most dé- panneurs cannot sell booze. But in des- ignated zones, private stores can house LCBO outlets. That is because they are far enough from the nearest LCBO store and do not compete with the official govern- ment-controlled stores. So you can buy booze at a dépanneur in St-Eugène, for example, but you cannot buy the same products at a Hawkesbury corner store. Surveys continually show that most Ontario residents support expanding the alcohol retailing system to allow beer and wine to be sold by more types of retailers. A poll last year found that 67 per cent of respondents support private retailers, like convenience stores, selling alcohol like beer and wine. A majority of Ontarians across all regions also support the idea, with Eastern Ontarians showing the high- est level of support (71%). But the Ontario government is in no rush to alter the current arrangement, which is essentially run by two monopo- lies – the province and The Beer Store. If Glengarry-Prescott-Russell Liberal M.P.P. Grant Crack wants to make new friends, and gain more votes, he might want to champion the “Free Our Beer” movement. Dépanneurs in his riding surely would benefit from additional rev- enues, and the voters would be pleased, too. Crack has no doubt heard of the latest push by the Ontario Convenience Stores Association, which claims to have pre- sented the largest single petition collect- ed in Ontario. Signed by 112,500 people from 220 communities, the petition calls on the Ontario Legislature to broaden the alcohol retailing system to include conve- nience stores. “The alcohol retailing system in Ontario was designed in 1927 - 85 years ago - and hasn’t fundamentally changed. But On- tarians are now speaking loud and clear: It’s time we moved the discussion forward on modernizing alcohol retailing in On- tario to include convenience stores,” said Dave Bryans, CEO of the association. “The people who have signed this petition are New Democrats, Liberals and Conserva- tives. They’re parents, neighbours and responsible adults who want the same simple convenience that their friends and relatives outside Ontario enjoy. Conve- nience stores are already responsibly of- fering alcohol in over 200 communities
Plantagenet | A group of homeown- ers is taking a page out of the toreador’s manual and dangling a red cloth in front of a company that is bullish on setting up an asphalt plant next door to local farm- lands. “We’re going red,” said Suzanne Lavoie, with a chuckle, as she explained 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 some property on Concession 2 off of County Road 17 near Jessop’s Falls changed to allow develop- ment of an asphalt plant. Neighbouring householders and farmers opposed to the project are now tying red ribbons, scarves, T-shirts, and other pieces of cloth to their roadside mailboxes to catch the attention and provoke the curiosity of passing mo- 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 company getting approval from both the United Counties of Prescott- Russell (UCPR) and Alfred-Plantagenet Township for an amendment to the UCPR Official Plan (OP) for land use in the area, which would then open the way for rezon- ing of the property. The main concerns for the group, and other residents in the area, are the envi- ronmental and safety impacts of an as- phalt plant in the neighbourhood. Local landowners are worried what effect the plant could have on the water table and air quality. There is concern about the sugges- tion that at full production, the plant could see up to 40 trucks an hour using County Road 17 as the main 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 Chamberlain
against the rezoning (request).” The group has a temporary 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 community barbecue/information gathering is planned for August 11 at 6560 County Road 17, ad- jacent to the site for the proposed asphalt plant. For now the proposal is still in the review process. Other government ministries and agencies like the South Nation Conserva- tion Authority (SNC) are reviewing the propos- al and sending briefs with their comments and concerns. NZAP is collecting copies of as many of these briefs as are available for review and study. “We’re following this process very closely,” Lavoie said. “We want to keep the people informed.” A public information and feedback ses- sion on the asphalt plant and the rezoning request was held July 16. Another may be held at a later date. The municipality has a 180-day grace period before council votes on the rezoning request. “It’s really a short time,” Lavoie said. “We have to work really hard. The people have to make it very clear, so there is no doubt in the minds of the councillors that when they vote ‘no’, that is what we want.” Tying one on to express opposition
38 500 copies
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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