Cottagers who travel north on Hwy 35/115 are going to have to get their alcohol somewhere else.
The LCBO in Orono, Ont., is set to close, again.
Tracy Vyfschaft, an executive board member with Ontario Public Service Employees Union, which represents LCBO workers, said she is feeling “a little frustrated” for residents of Orono and surrounding area because of the news.
The community first learned that its LCBO was in jeopardy in late 2017 when managers announced that the outlet would be closed, despite the fact that it regularly generates a profit. Once a new outlet in the town of Newcastle is ready, the Orono location would be shut down.
The union fought back. It rallied the residents of Orono. “We told the residents to contact their local MPPs, Lou Rinaldi and Granville Anderson, with their concerns,” Vyfschaft said.
On April 13, Rinaldi called a news conference and said the store would remain open.
“It seemed like a huge win,” Vyfschaft said. “The community had already lost its grocery store and had just heard that it might be losing its bank, too.”
Yet recently, Orono residents got a card in the mail informing them that the LCBO would be closing for good at the end of October.
“Residents were lied to,” Vyfschaft said. “Leading into the provincial election, if I were a candidate, I would do everything in my power to keep that store open.”
Global News reached out to the LCBO for a comment but they did not get back by the time of publication.
There is no exact date on when the store will be closing its doors for good.