New rules on cigarette displays fuel debate

The display ban is set to take effect in Ontario and Quebec tomorrow and follows similar moves that have already been adopted or are pending in other parts of the country. Newfoundland is the only province that isn't moving to ban retail cigarette displays.

According to the Ontario Campaign for Action on Tobacco, the display ban is designed to prevent children from being exposed to images of cigarettes and to "de-normalize" the product in the rest of the population.

But the change is creating significant controversy among retailers and health advocates over the business of smoking and whether the government should be able to restrict one of the convenience store industry's most profitable products.

"There's just a lot of confusion at this time and that's normal when you cover up your number one selling product," said Dave Bryans, president of the Canadian Convenience Stores Association.

Mr. Bryans said the only thing the display ban will likely do is put many stores out of business and damage small retailers who rely on tobacco sales from existing smokers.

"It will not deter. All it does is hurt ... the small business model in every community," Mr. Bryans said.

"Thirty per cent of all stores will be gone within three years and that's because we don't have the replacement traffic categories," Mr. Bryans said.

For many years, convenience store operators have relied on cigarettes to bring in a major portion of their sales. In addition, most tobacco companies have paid convenience stores to prominently display their products or make sure they're visible to the customer.