Corner store petitions NB Liquor to sell alcohol

The owner of the Angie convenience store in northeastern New Brunswick is lobbying NB Liquor to allow it to sell beer and wine.

The Val-Comeau convenience store is more than 10 kilometres from the nearest NB Liquor outlet and it’s close to several campgrounds and other tourist destinations.

Elise Kenny, the store’s owner, said she’s gathered 466 signatures petitioning the Crown corporation to allow her to sell alcohol.

But she said she has not convinced the liquor corporation to grant her a permit to sell its products in her store.

Val-Comeau is located about 10 kilometres away from Tracadie-Sheila in the Acadian Peninsula.

Kenny’s request comes just as the Atlantic Convenience Stores Association has started lobbying the New Brunswick government to allow corner stores to sell alcohol.

NB Liquor can designate agency stores, which can sell beer and wine.

But the provincial government would need to change the law in order to allow beer and wine to be sold in any convenience store that wanted to get into that business.

The Department of Public Safety is reviewing the Liquor Control Act, which was enacted in 1961. There is no timeline on when changes will be introduced or what will be in those revisions.

The convenience stores association released a poll last week that indicated 68 per cent of adults support or mostly support the idea of allowing convenience stores in New Brunswick to sell alcohol.

The idea of allowing stores to sell alcohol has been a political issue recently in British Columbia and Nova Scotia.

In 2011, the association also called for convenience stores in New Brunswick to be able to sell alcohol.