like Ford’s government moves to allow more public consumption of alcohol, after expanding beer and wine sales and cutting some taxes, a group is asking the province to redirect some of the revenue to education and prevention.
The Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Research Network of Canada said it is concerned about Ontario’s moves to allow more alcoholic beverages and wants to see a portion of the proceeds from its sales go to education and care.
“We are concerned about some of the recent policy changes in Ontario,” the group’s executive director, Kathy Unsworth, told Global News in an interview.
“They are making alcohol more accessible to the public. We know that when alcohol is more accessible, consumption increases. And we also know that there are very significant harms associated with alcohol.”
The concerns come as the government moves to allow drinking across Ontario’s provincial parks. Over the past year, the province has also reduced designations at the LCBO and lowered some taxes.
Two years ago, it moved to allow beer, wine and ready-to-drink drinks to be sold in Ontario corner stores.
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Unsworth, whose organization researches fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and advocates for greater awareness, said the harms from drinking meant the government needed to redirect some of its alcohol revenue.
“I would like to see a portion of the taxes that are collected by the government go towards education, awareness and training about FASD or alcohol use in general,” she said.
“There are other provinces that do this and do it in different ways, but Ontario currently does not.”
The Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority, for example, has an agreement to fund fetal alcohol spectrum disorder awareness.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Finance said “Ontarians should be treated like adults” and given a choice when it comes to alcohol purchases.
“Our government is investing an additional $10 million over five years in funding to support social responsibility and public health efforts to ensure that alcohol continues to be sold and consumed safely in the expanded market,” they wrote in a statement.
“Existing requirements regarding staff training, minimum prices, hours of sale and warning signs will be maintained and implemented at all new retail outlets.”
Unsworth said her organization had struggled to make an intervention with the Ford government.
“We haven’t had much success with this particular government in terms of trying to get them to make an investment in FASD or join CanFASD,” she said.
“We have jurisdictional memberships and we have the northern and western provinces and New Brunswick that are actually provincial and territorial members of CanFSD.”
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