The Convenience Retailers Alliance 4 Safe Communities (RA4SC) commends the Government of British Columbia for announcing The Safer Communities Action Plan (SCAP) that lays out formative steps at the provincial level to make communities safer through enforcement and intervention services.

While the plan is a start, RA4SC members encourage the government to go further and address the fact that the serious threat of contraband tobacco is noticeably missing from their plan.

"Contraband tobacco invites criminal activity into our communities, puts contraband tobacco into the hands of children and youth, and hurts convenience store operators who follow the rules but are forced to compete with the black market. The government needs to include this issue in their new Safe Communities Initiative."

The "Speak up for Our Stores" campaign, led by the Convenience Retailers Alliance 4 Safe Communities, continued today at Pinantan General Store, a convenience store located in Pinantan Lake, BC. The store owner Cory George has been in business for 25 years. However, like many other convenience store owners, he is worried about the harmful impacts of contraband tobacco on his community but also his business.