MONTREAL - Last week, the Ontario Convenience Store Association (OCSA) launched a petition drive to dissuade the Ontario government from executing the harmonized sales tax (HST), which goes into effect July 1. Essentially, the HST will raise legal tobacco prices by 8 percent, driving down the price of illegal cigarettes even more.

With the illegal trade of cigarettes already accounting for almost 50 percent of all cigarettes purchased in Ontario, the OCSA has been trying to convince the government that raising HST is not an acceptable solution for the convenience store industry.

"This will likely only drive more consumers to the illegal market, thereby exacerbating the illegal trade problem in the province and putting our businesses a further risk," said Dave Bryans, OCSA president. "After numerous meetings with government officials and politicians, and participation in pre-budget consultations, the OCSA continues to engage key staff in the Ministry of Revenue to help them address this problem. We now think it is time for your individual voices to be heard."

The association is sending its members a petition for the Legislative Assembly and two postcards for the Ministers of Finance and Revenue. "We strongly encourage retailers to sign these three documents, so that the government can hear from people across the province," said Bryans. "It is extremely important that our members fully participate in this initiative [because ??] the government continues to not understand the impact the HST will have on the convenience store channel in Ontario and the contraband market."