An Open Letter to the Premier of Ontario
September 28, 2015
To: Premier of Ontario
Dear Ms. Kathleen Wynne,
As the Premier of Ontario, you have a mandate to serve and treat every and each person who lives and works in the Province of Ontario
I am the owner and operator of a small independent Mom & Pop convenience a store in Cayuga, Ontario.
As a retailer, I believe that I am being discriminated and treated very unfairly by you and your Liberal government.
I would like to ask you to change your plan of allowing big grocery stores only to sell the beers.
According to your policy, there will be 60 grocery stores only who will be granted the exclusive rights of selling beer by December of this year. They the most luckiest stores chosen by you and they will receive a very special X-Mas gift from you.
If so, how about the others of 1,440 stores who could not see the level field in the competition among the supermarkets. And you also promised to another 390 grocery retailers that they will be given the privilege of selling the good item in the 3 years of time period.
Can you imagine the feelings of the 1,050 grocers who will be totally left out cold and lose the competitive edge to the competing lucky 450 stores who will enjoy the Wynne-given rights of selling six-packs?
Further, there are about 10,000 convenience stores in Ontario and it looks like they will be definitely left out from the beer selling business in their stores at least until October 2018 provincial election. Sadly until then so many C-stores will face hardship and even hundreds of them will be going out of business.
Don’t you think this policy of treating the retailers unfairly in beer selling rights will make you and your Ontario Liberal party very unpopular among the most grocers and all the c-stores operators from now on?
And further, as a retailer myself, I would like to see the very unfortunate retailers get together and start protesting against you and your Liberal party right away.
In conclusion, would you please consider scrapping your new policy which will hurt so many retailers and their family members and working peoples in Ontario.
Once again, please remember the fact that as the Premier of Ontario, you must work for all the people instead of working for the chosen grocery stores only.
I firmly believe that every retailers who want to sell 6-pack beers shall be given the rights and choices regardless the size of their retail stores.
Also I believe that I live and do the business in a FREE ECONOMY society of Ontario and I shall be free especially from any intervention by a government like yours.
Sincerely,
Tony Yoonsik Lim
Cayuga, ON
