Buy your booze steps from campus!
As of Sept. 5, Ontario convenience stores and gas stations have joined their Quebec and Newfoundland counterparts with the ability to sell certain alcoholic beverages.
Diversifying sellers of wine, beer, and certain pre-mixed drinks, rather than being exclusively sold through the LCBO and Beer Store, has been a campaign promise from the Ford Government since 2018. This controversial deal helped lead to the LCBO workers strike this summer, as the workers union aimed to protect the LCBO monopoly over the sale of hard liquor within the province.
For University of Ottawa students, this adds three locations less than a five minute walk from campus: 210 Laurier Ave., 120 Osgood St., and 287A Somerset St., for their purchase of drinks. Before the change, the closest access to alcohol retailers were the two LCBO stores located in the ByWard market, while the closest Beer Store was over a thirty-minute walk west of campus.
Customer service representative Karan of the Osgoode Circle K, told the Fulcrum that “with around a thousand customers coming through each day, we are preparing for busier times around weekends… we will be healthy competition [against campus bars].” Karan told the Fulcrum that students can expect strict enforcement of I.D. verification, no promotional sales of alcohol — but a clean and well-stocked store.
Jeff Roberts, owner and operator of NOX Eatery and Public House, located on the second floor of the Minto Sports Complex, told the Fulcrum, “I really see [the new vendors] as competition. I see it as convenience … where students and everyone can buy their beers safely.”
When asked if NOX was planning on offering any specials to entice student presence, Roberts highlighted that “we’re a lot more than just a location that serves alcohol. We are a fuel shack selling a ton of healthy options.” Continuing, Roberts explained that “there’s a free spirit movement … we have multiple revenue streams … that doesn’t rely on the sale of alcohol.”
When asked about the possibility of product sales coming to the campus convenient store, PiViK, president of the University of Ottawa Student Union, Delphine Robitaille commented to the Fulcrum that “[the sale of alcohol] hasn’t really been on our radar” also citing U of O Policy 88, which prohibits the sale of alcohol on campus by anyone other than university staff.
