Hancock Disappointed with Cigarette Sales from Trailer

Source from:  Michael-Allan Marion Local News - Tuesday, August 21, 2007 08/22/2007

Mayor Mike Hancock is disappointed at the prospect that cigarettes are being sold from a small trailer on Erie Avenue, just inside the city limits. But there's little that can done immediately because the activity is not on municipal land, he said. City politicians were informed Monday by city staff that an information trailer that a group of natives had been placed on the site a year ago had been removed. In the afternoon, though, a smaller trailer commonly used for smoke shops appeared in the same place, and sales were being reported. "I'm not happy if cigarettes are being sold from there," said Hancock. However, he said the city would have to speak with the Grand River Conservation Authority, which owns the land. "If it were city land and we could confirm that cigarettes were being sold from a trailer, I would have reacted immediately," he said, "but it's GRCA land and they'll have to decide what they want to do." Hancock said he will confer with staff and city police about the matter today. Ward 5 councillors Margeurite Ceschi-Smith and John Bradford said they're monitoring the situation and hope it doesn't develop into a larger problem. The possibility of an illegal smoke shop being set up was an immediate fear when a trailer appeared on the property around the same time last year. It caused an initial stir and prompted meetings between city officials, police, the GRCA and Six Nations officials. The native group that put the trailer there insisted they were setting up an information booth. Concern gradually evaporated after the owners showed over time that they were only distributing pamphlets and other literature. Enditem