Hamilton objects to 7-Eleven’s plan to serve beer and wine

The city will formally object to a proposal from 7-Eleven Canada in a last-ditch bid to prevent the company from selling beer and wine inside local convenience stores.

Council voted in favour this week of sending attorneys to the Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT) on June 14 where a decision will be made on whether to green-light 7-Eleven's push to couple dine-in meals with beer and wine at two Hamilton locations.

The city's stance on the issue remains that liquor consumption at convenience stores is incongruent with other property uses in the area, is not in keeping with expectations, and is not in the community's best interest," the city said in a news release Thursday.

7-Eleven filed liquor sales licence applications for 61 provincial stores in February 2021 amid an effort to sell a small selection of Ontario-made craft beer and wine products in designated consumption areas.

They were met with fervent public objection.

More than 1,770 residents living near some of the five-dozen proposed locations formally opposed the company's applications during a 28-day public notice period, leaving their fate in the hands of an independent tribunal, said the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO).

The two locations in Hamilton - a gas station and convenience store at 415 Melvin Ave. and a convenience store at 622 Upper Wellington St. - received a total of 91 formal objections.

Council railed against the proposals in March 2021 and said 7-Eleven's bid to serve booze indoors could prompt other convenience stores to follow suit. The company also came under fire from a union representing many of Ontario's liquor workers, who argued the proposals could hurt small businesses and expose children to intoxicated people.

But it will be a tall task to see the licences denied in Hamilton.

Objections to four proposed 7-Eleven applications - two in Toronto and one each in London and Sarnia - have already been dismissed in recent months by the LAT, who found the community concerns raised were insufficient to deny the licences.

Understanding that municipalities have had little success in achieving a denial of licences ... the city will seek reasonable constraints to be placed on alcohol sales at these locations," the city said in its release.

It's unclear what conditions are being sought.

Sebastian Bron is a reporter at The Spectator. sbron@thespec.com