Ontario Convenience Stores Association pleased Toronto City Council withdraws bag by-law

TORONTO, Nov. 28, 2012 /CNW/ - The Ontario Convenience Stores Association announced today it was pleased that Toronto City Council has decided to withdraw its controversial plastic bag by-law, which was set to go into effect January 1, 2013.

While the OCSA is still studying the impact of the Council decision and the resolutions it passed today, members were grateful Toronto City Council reconsidered its plastic bag by-law in light of the evidence that was presented. OCSA legal counsel Eric S. Block and Ronald Podolny of McCarthy Tétrault LLP commend the professionalism and integrity of the City of Toronto's legal staff in their handling of this matter.

"This is a good day for small businesses in Toronto and we commend Toronto City Council for their thoughtful reconsideration of this by-law and the impact it would have had on convenience stores" said Dave Bryans, CEO of the Ontario Convenience Stores Association.  "By selectively prohibiting merchants from providing certain types of plastic bags, shoppers would have been less likely to make purchases and that would have hit Toronto's small, family run convenience stores the hardest."

Lawyers representing the OCSA will be conferring with City legal staff in the coming days to discuss next steps in resolving the legal application that had been issued against the City earlier this month.  OCSA will not be providing any further public comment until those discussions are complete.

About OCSA

The Ontario Convenience Stores Association (OCSA) represents convenience stores throughout the province that are committed to Responsible Community Retailing.  The OCSA membership comprises nearly 7,500 of the 11,000 convenience stores in Ontario.  The convenience store industry represents $13 billion in sales annually in Ontario and employs over 69,000 people.  More than 3 million people visit convenience stores in communities across Ontario every day.

SOURCE: Ontario Convenience Stores Association

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