Retailers are glad to see the sugar tax go, but say it will take time and money to put the system back to the way it was.
Jim Cormier, the Atlantic Director of the Retail Council of Canada, says they were against the tax from the outset and knew it would do nothing to advance public health because people couldn’t see it. He says none of their members could point to anything to show that sales of sugary drinks dropped after the tax came in.
He says going back to the old tax structure won’t happen overnight.
He says there will be a lot of administrative red tape and cost involved, but “we’d rather see Newfoundland and Labrador do things as they are across the country, and that’s focusing on health promotion.”
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has echoed those sentiments.
