The defendant, owner and director of a retail tobacco store, was charged with two offences under the Smoke Free Ontario Act: selling tobacco to a person under 19 years old and selling tobacco to a person appearing to be under 25 without verifying identification.
A municipal test shopper, aged 17, purchased cigarettes from the defendant's employee without being asked for identification.
The defendant raised a pre-trial objection regarding the appropriateness of charging the individual rather than the corporation, which was rejected.
At trial, the defendant advanced a due diligence defence, arguing he had trained his staff and implemented compliance measures.
The court found the prosecution proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt and that the defendant failed to establish due diligence on a balance of probabilities.
The defendant was found guilty on both counts and fined $1,000 on each count.
