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Wondering why you neglected to highlight these minor details:
| quote: | Originally posted by Jayx1
Here is an example of the AGCO in Ottawa:
Ottawa bars near home of NHL's Senators face liquor bans
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Tom Spears, Canwest News Service · Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009
OTTAWA -- Two bars near Scotiabank Place have been hit with lengthy liquor licence suspensions after provincial inspectors found a pattern of drunken rowdiness.
Philthy McNasty’s and O’Connor’s Irish Pub, both in Kanata Centrum, are under suspension for a series of liquor offences in the fall and winter a year ago.
Philthy McNasty’s is serving a 33-day suspension lasting until Feb. 9; O’Connor’s lost its liquor licence for 17 days and can re-open on Jan. 21.
“There was quite a series of incidents that took place, and there was a continuing pattern of conduct,” said Lisa Murray, a spokeswoman for the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, which issues (and suspends) liquor licences.
“Many of them were (Ottawa Senators) game nights,” she added. The inspectors reported that many of the customers began their nights at the hockey game and came to the Centrum pubs to keep the evening going.
It’s the first suspension for Philthy McNasty’s. O’Connor’s had suspensions in 2003 (five days) and 2007 (10 days) -- one for overcrowding and one for drunkenness.
But while the suspensions are for a series of offences a year ago, the area’s councillor says fights and overdrinking have continued ever since. “There’s been some real problems there,” said Marianne Wilkinson.
“They’re very large bars. The liquor flows, and then they (customers) come out at the end of it and have fights,” Ms. Wilkinson said.
“It’s been a long time,” she said. “They had a community meeting about a month ago.
“They are serving alcohol to people who are obviously drunk, and they get even drunker, and their employees are not discouraging them.”
“The suspension is longer for Philthy McNasty’s — I hate that name — than from O’Connor’s, but both have been problems for some time,” she said.
“The police tell me it is a place they have to go to. At 2 a.m. Sunday morning (or) Saturday morning, they have to have a presence there. The mall was even considering hiring off-duty police to be there. That’s how difficult it’s become.”
At Philthy McNasty’s, the liquor inspectors, sometimes accompanied by police, found drunk customers on each of six visits from October 2007 to January 2008.
In one case, the bar’s security people did not take measures to make sure that customers were remaining calm, “and people were just getting really unruly,” Ms. Murray said.
On another, a staff member tried to block police officers who were arresting the staff member’s drunk brother.
The bar has agreed as a condition of its sentence to install video cameras at the entrances and keep video records as evidence.
O’Connor’s also admitted that liquor inspectors and police had found drunks on the premises on two visits about a year ago, Ms. Murray said.
“This is again the same type of thing: There is a pattern of conduct in allowing disruptive behaviour by patrons on sort of an ongoing basis.”
O’Connor’s also agreed to install video cameras.
At Philthy McNasty’s, the main door is boarded up and a sign reads: “We will be closed until February 9 for renovations. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause as we look forward to introducing you to our new and improved Philthy McNasty’s! Sincerely, Ownership and Management.”
This is right next to a yellow sign from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission that says the bar had its liquor licence suspended due to 10 counts of permitting drunkenness and three counts of failing to deter disorderly conduct outdoors.
Inspectors identify themselves to the staff on duty when they check out a bar or restaurant and let them know if they find problems, Ms. Murray said.
When they find problems, “then it’s likely that those establishments will see the inspectors more often.”
The suspensions were negotiated between the provincial commission and the two bars. There was no hearing for either case.
The two suspensions are very lengthy by Ontario standards, Ms. Murray said. Most offences bring a warning, a fine, or a shorter suspension. (Scotiabank Place itself served a one-day liquor licence suspension on Nov. 11.)
“Anything 14 days or over is considered a serious length.”
“We’ll abide by the laws that the government of Ontario has laid out, and do our best to follow the strict regulations of the Liquor Licensing Act,” said Jeff White, vice-president of the Pegasus Group, which sells Philthy’s franchises.
But he said it’s nearly impossible for a bar that holds 500 customers to avoid having a few drunks.
The recent suspension, he said, “put us in a tough, tough position, but there’s really not much we can do. There’s 500 people in the place, and we try to keep an eye on everybody, but it’s pretty hard to do so,” he said.
Cutting the number of customers makes the business unprofitable, said Mr. White. “When you’re busy, that’s when they (inspectors) come looking for you. They don’t go into Swiss Chalet looking for liquor infractions. They come into the busiest restaurant, and we were the busiest bar at that time.”
But he said the Philthy’s chain may have to evolve into smaller, pub-style establishments, and the day of big bars with crowds, excitement, dance floors and bands is fading away.
Representatives of O’Connor’s Irish Pub could not be reached for comment.
With files from Brendan Kennedy, Citizen staff
The Ottawa Citizen
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Now...and let me get this straight - from a libertarian perspective, the bar owners should be free to do as they please on their own premises, correct? Even though fights are breaking out on a regular basis and other local establishments (i.e.: the mall in which the bars are situated) evidently feel the venues are problematic?
Am I getting this right?
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Hopefully they are prepared for that.
