LCBO forced to bring back paper bags

Premier orders reintroduction, saying move will help families 'struggling to make ends meet

- ROBERT BENZIE

The LCBO first announced it was phasing out its paper bags last spring. The Crown-owned retailer confirmed Monday it "has received direction from the provincial government" to go back to giving out the bags at its more than 680 outlets.

The LCBO will resume giving paper bags to customers after the ban was sacked by Premier Doug Ford.

In an unusual intervention with the operations of the Crownowned Liquor Control Board of Ontario, Ford ordered the booze giant to rethink its bag policy that took effect last September.

"I'm requesting that you take immediate steps to reverse the decision to remove paper bags from the LCBO's retail locations," the premier wrote Sunday in a terse letter to George Soleas, president and CEO of the company.