Montreal is moving to ban the sale of sugary drinks from all of its municipal buildings.
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A motion that was passed this week aims to prohibit soda, sports drinks and other sweetened beverages from being sold at municipal installations like administrative buildings, libraries and arenas.
The ban developed from a motion tabled by longtime Montreal city councillor Marvin Rotrand.
It calls on the city to ask the federal government to introduce a tax on sugary drinks.
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Rotrand says two of the city’s 19 boroughs have a sugary drink ban in place and that a working group will figure out how to gradually introduce it in the other districts as contracts with various distributors come due.
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The Canadian Beverage Association says it’s disappointed with the move, saying the industry wasn’t consulted and that studies demonstrate sugar-sweetened beverage calorie consumption has dropped by at least 30 per cent since 2004.
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