Ontario convenience stores urge Ontario government to add red stripe to driver's licences to flag minors

Ontario and Quebec only North American jurisdictions where driver's licences do not carry markings to identify minors

OAKVILLE, ON, Aug. 29, 2012 /CNW/ - The Ontario Convenience Stores Association (OCSA) is joining a growing coalition of groups that are calling on the Ontario Government to make a simple modification to driver's licences in order to make identifying minors quick an easy for all retailers.  All American states have the visual age indicator strips on their licences, as does every Canadian province except for Ontario and Quebec.

"We're asking the Ontario Government to make a simple modification to the design of driver's licences and add a visual indicator - a red stripe - signifying someone who is under 19 years of age," said Dave Bryans, CEO of the Ontario Convenience Stores Association.  "OCSA member retailers are proud to have the best track record of preventing the sale of age restricted products to minors.  But even one mistake is too many, so we're always looking for ways we can eliminate the unintentional sale of these products to minors."

Proposed by health officials and the 'Not To Kids' coalition, the proposal involves adding visual age indicator strips down the side of driver's licences. The colour strips would appear beside the person's photo, clearly showing that the person is under 19 years of age. The modification would also add information listing the date when the licencee reaches the age of majority. In Ontario, no one may sell tobacco or alcohol products to anyone under 19 years of age.

"Each OCSA member takes their duty to act as a responsible community retailer very seriously. Our stores sell more age restricted products than any other retailer in this province, and collectively perform over 36 million ID checks of minors each year," added Bryans.  "We strongly support this initiative and urge the government and all opposition parties to put their support behind this common sense proposal."

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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