From: brewnoser2@gmail.com   
      
   Doug Ford, the 'buck a beer' idiot is on that treadmill again.   
   What the hell next? Wear a mask, get a free beer?   
   ________________________   
   CBC News · Posted: Feb 18, 2021   
      
   Doug Ford met with 7-Eleven executive at company's Texas HQ   
      
   Convenience store chain wants licence to sell beer, wine for on-site   
   consumption at 61 Ontario locations   
      
   During one of his official trade missions to the U.S., Premier Doug Ford met a   
   top executive of 7-Eleven, a company that is now seeking permission to sell   
   beer and wine in many of its Ontario locations.   
      
   CBC News learned of Ford's meeting at 7-Eleven's corporate headquarters in   
   Irving, Tex. on Feb. 10, 2020 through a freedom of information request for the   
   premier's appointment schedule.   
      
   Ford spent 24 hours in the Dallas area, following a three-day trip to   
   Washington, D.C. for meetings with U.S. governors, as well as senior officials   
   from Google and Ford Motor Co.   
      
   The 7-Eleven meeting was not mentioned in the provincial news release about   
   the premier's Texas trip. A senior government official confirmed to CBC News   
   that Ford met the company's chief operating officer, Chris Tanco.   
      
   Headlined "Premier Ford Works to Build on Ontario's Multi-Billion Dollar Trade   
   Relationship with Texas," the news release mentioned all of Ford's other   
   events on the trip: a meeting with corporate officials at Toyota's North   
   American headquarters, a    
   roundtable with the Texas-Canada Chamber of Commerce and a gathering with   
   Canada's consul-general in Dallas.   
      
   "The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the potential expansion of   
   7-Eleven's footprint in Ontario, possibly leading to hundreds of more jobs   
   across the province," Ford's director of media relations Ivana Yelich said in   
   an email to CBC News Wednesday.   
      
   "Part of the discussion included the sale of beer and wine in convenience   
   stores, which our government has long been committed to advancing in order to   
   deliver more choice to Ontarians," Yelich added.   
      
   7-Eleven has applied to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO)   
   for restaurant-type licences to serve beer and wine in 61 of its Ontario   
   locations, stretching from Dryden To Windsor.   
      
   If the licences are granted, the alcohol would have to be sold with food and   
   consumed in the store, in what the company describes as "designated   
   consumption areas." Retail sales — such as buying a six-pack to take home   
   — would not be permitted.   
      
   "Under the regulations of the Liquor Licence Act, given its business model,   
   7-Eleven would not be eligible to offer takeout and delivery of liquor with   
   food orders, if a licence is granted," Yelich added in the email.   
      
   Premier Doug Ford's calendar for Feb. 10, 2020, obtained as part of a freedom   
   of information request by CBC News, shows his meeting at 7-Eleven's corporate   
   headquarters in Texas. (Premier's office)   
      
   Ford's decision to meet with a top 7-Eleven executive does not raise red flags   
   to Eric Miller, an expert on Canada-U.S. Trade Relations.   
      
   "I could see the usefulness," said Miller, president of Rideau Potomac   
   Strategy Group, in an interview Wednesday with CBC News. "I can think of other   
   companies that would be much less of a priority in terms of how an Ontario   
   premier would spend their    
   time."   
      
   Miller said having good relations with 7-Eleven could help Ontario companies   
   get their products for sale at the chain's 70,000 locations worldwide.   
      
   The Ontario Liberal Party finance critic, Mitzie Hunter, questions the optics   
   of Ford's decision to meet with 7-Eleven.   
      
   "If he truly had nothing to hide, why was this meeting not disclosed publicly,   
   as all his other meetings were that day?" Hunter said in a statement. "This is   
   just the latest example of Doug Ford paying lip service to Ontario's small   
   business owners while    
   looking to reward special interests behind closed doors."   
      
   The sale of beer from convenience stores is one of Ford's signature campaign   
   promises.   
      
   However, the pledge is yet to be fulfilled, in large part because of a legal   
   agreement between Ontario and The Beer Store. The contract stipulates limits   
   on where beer can be sold, and if those limits are broken, the government   
   faces compensating the big    
   brewers who own The Beer Store to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars,   
   according to industry sources.   
      
   In May 2019, the government tabled the Bringing Choice and Fairness to the   
   People Act, a bill that would terminate the beer contract without   
   compensation. Although the legislation passed, cabinet has yet to bring its   
   provisions into force.   
      
   The government has changed provincial policy so that licensed restaurants can   
   sell alcohol with food for take-out and delivery. This was not permitted   
   before the pandemic, and the change to the policy was made permanent in   
   December.   
      
   Nineteen of the stores for which 7-Eleven is seeking a liquor licence are in   
   Toronto. The company has also applied to serve beer and wine at multiple   
   locations in such cities as Windsor, London, Waterloo, Hamilton and St.   
   Catharines.   
      
   The AGCO is accepting public comment on the liquor licence applications until   
   March 11.   
      
   https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/7-11-beer-wine-in-store-1.5916069   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)