Ontario alcohol: Stores located near schools will be ‘very responsible,’ Ford says [Video]

Days before Ontario opens up alcohol sales to convenience stores across the province, Premier Doug Ford says he has full confidence in retailers located near schools to sell beer and wine responsibly, despite concerns from the provincial secondary school teachers’ union president over student access to booze.

“[Convenience stores have] dealt with everything from tobacco to lottery tickets, now beer and wine, and they’re going to be very responsible,” Ford said at an unrelated news conference in Brampton Tuesday morning.

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Ford made the comment in response to a question about the incoming expansion of alcohol sales, which referenced his government’s recent move to close 10 supervised consumption sitesin Ontario due to their proximity to schools. That decision, which has been criticized by harm reduction advocates, was made in an effort to curb what Health Minister Sylvia Jones described last month as a resulting increase of crime at …