Free our Beer? Questioning the Logic of the OCSA - Part 1

Well, unionized LCBO employees have voted for possible strike action over this coming May long weekend and we are once again hearing from the Ontario Convenience Stores Association (OCSA) about the need to ‘modernize’ alcohol retailing in the province.  Last summer the OCSA presented 112,500 signatures to Queen’s Park from supporters of the “Free our Beer” campaign.  At first glance, it might sound like a good idea to be able to buy beer and wine in corner stores.  It would certainly be more convenient.  But there are other considerations that deserve equal attention when making such a significant decision.  Over the next couple of weeks we are going to discuss some of these other considerations, starting with the following.

The OCSA has repeatedly told us that Ontarians want alcohol to be sold in corner stores, but do they really?  Consider the following...

The OCSA claims that the majority of Ontarians support this change. 

·    However, in September 2011, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) published a report called Ontarians’ Opinions about Alcohol Policy.  The report showed that a strong majority (73%; 95% CI: 69%-76%) of Ontarians do not want alcohol to be available in corner stores.  This anonymous, random-digit-dialing telephone survey provides an unbiased view of the Ontario landscape, far different from the biased petition being presented by the OCSA, which only focuses on those who are in favour of this change. 

·    In a random telephone survey of Kingston residents in 2012 we found that 68% of respondents either disagreed or strongly disagreed with selling alcohol in corner stores. 

These results conflict with the OCSA claims, and at the very least tell us that it is not clear what Ontarians want.   

Interesting note - A recent strategy by some convenience store companies offers incentives to store operators for getting signatures in this renewed effort to get the “Free our Beer” petition signed.  Does this increase bias?  Apart from the increased convenience, are signatories of this petition being given information about both the pros and cons of greatly increasing alcohol availability in their community? 

Watch for Part 2 – next week we will continue this discussion and consider another one of the OCSA’s points – that convenience stores are just as good as the LCBO in controlling access to alcohol.