For the first time in the convenience store’s history in B.C., 7-Eleven has been convicted of selling tobacco to a minor — the result of three undercover operations by Interior Health at the same Kamloops location.
A corporate lawyer representing 7-Eleven Canada was in Kamloops provincial court on Tuesday, Feb. 4, to plead guilty to one count of selling tobacco to a minor.
Court heard the 7-Eleven store on Seymour Street in downtown Kamloops was targeted by Interior Health’s tobacco-enforcement division in early 2013.
Underage purchasers — between 16 and 17 years of age, court heard — were sent into the store to purchase flavoured tobacco products.
The store was the subject of undercover buys by minors three times — once in January and twice in June.
Court heard there were no “clean checks” — instances in which Interior Health minors were turned down — in that same time frame.
Interior Health tobacco enforcement officer Stan Thiessen said 7-Eleven agreed to plead guilty on a number of conditions, including a promise by authorities the chain’s tobacco licence would not be revoked.
The fine was also reduced from $575 to $100, with the remaining $475 going to School District No. 73 to create a “tobacco-education kit,” court was told.
Lauren Cook, 7-Eleven’s lawyer, said the incidents were a case of cashier error.
“We’re all human,” she said.
“I can only assume that the sales associates are making honest mistakes.
“Some of these are just human elements that are coming into play.”
Cook said the regional manager and store manager responsible for the Seymour Street location were reprimanded by the company.
She also said the store has increased its training for staff.
The guilty plea is just the second time a Canadian 7-Eleven store has been found guilty of a tobacco-related offence, court heard, with the other instance taking place more than a decade ago in Saskatchewan.
Thiessen said the reason for that is the chain’s “big brother” — corporate lawyers who quash charges in court.
Cook said 7-Eleven has been to court about 80 times in Canada for tobacco offences.
Based in Surrey, 7-Eleven Canada operates nearly 500 stores across the country. All 7-Eleven locations in Canada are corporate-owned.
There are more than 50,000 7-Eleven locations worldwide.
