“Bargain Booze” and one local bar responsible for Wolfville’s social problems?
The Chronicle Herald wrote on December 20, 2008 that the NDP-MLA, Leonard Preyra, was happy about the government finally taking action after he had forwarded a private member’s bill on the subject on November 03, 2008. Before that the government had set up a committee to make recommendations regarding the drinking problem, and in October 2008 this committee came up with a suggestion of a minimum price of $2.50 per drink.
Thereafter, in early December 2008 MDs at Dalhousie University sent a letter to Mr. Preyra outlining that “binge drinking” can result in alcohol poisoning and sexually transmitted diseases and that the student population, in particular those on reduced budgets, are targeted to buy cheap drinks.
The article then quoted a student at the St. Francis Xavier University to have said that the newly set minimum price of $2.50 might not persuade students from drinking less overall, for they might be just more inclined to stay and drink at a private party.
In a similar article on the subject The Globe and Mail on December 20, 2008 quoted another student to have said that making cheap drinks more expensive will not keep students from getting trashed - $2.50 is still pretty cheap. This student is supposed to have said: “I think that when people go out, they have it in mind anyways to get completely wasted, so I don’t think it really matters how much the price is, to tell you the truth.”
The Advertiser wrote on December 16, 2008 an article linking the so far mostly Halifax problem to the university town of Wolfville. The headline reads: “Mayor asks bar owners to forego cheap drinks”. The article states that the mayor is going to call on all six liquor outlets in his[?] town to work together to set minimum drink prices.
I am amazed that either the Mayor or the reporter are unable to count up to “nine” for there are nine outlets within Wolfville’s boundaries (beside the liquor store itself) serving liquor and/or beer.
The article then points to the “only one liquor establishment on Harbourside Dr.” selling cheap drinks.
During my meeting with the owner of the Harbourside establishment, he stated that the reporter had not talked to him at all to find out about his position on the subject.
It may be even true that Stead said “The practice of allowing cheap drinks leads to binge drinking and in this small town creates community living’ issues such as rowdiness, property damage, trespassing and noise” as he is quoted in the article, for it reminded me on another article in The Advertiser on November 18, 2008 where Stead was quoted to have said something during the swearing-in ceremony of the new Councillors which had not even taken place when The Advertiser and the article in question became printed and distributed.
Anyhow, the owner of the Harbourside outlet told me during our meeting that Stead had not called on him to clarify the subject but that he had been accused by Stead of “trying to get the young people drunk” when both had met by accident. Furthermore, the owner told me that he regards it almost impossible to talk to Stead to find a solution for the very many facets of the present “drinking issue”. He even gave a possible explanation why Stead is trying to blame only him and his establishment for all or most of the “social problems” in Wolfville.
The facts are that the Harbourside outlet has served cheap drinks Thursdays and Saturdays from 8:30 PM to 10:00 PM only. Maybe, Stead should check police files about complaints and their responses in relation to “rowdiness, property damage, trespassing and noise” close to these time frames during the two days of the week. Problems, when they happen, have occurred on average much later in the night.
The owner of the Harbourside outlet made the following points:
- Young people, mostly young students, won’t even try to do any binge drinking paying the regular rates for their drinks. The 1.5 hour period twice a week of the cheap-drinks offer is necessary to get customers in early thereby hoping and wishing that most of them will stay after 10PM and buy drinks at the regular price rates. The cheap drinks during the 1.5 hours do not result in binge drinking at my premises. Cheap drinks were limited to two “doubles” or four “singles” per person. This means that during the happy 1.5 hours customers could consume twice e.g. a coke and a liquor shot (vodka, rum) or four times a liquor shot of 28.4 millilitres for the reduced price rate. And even the selection of the liquor shots was limited to two brands only. A different taste or a variation of choice would mean regular price rates again. From a business point of view I was loosing money while offering cheap drinks.
- My clientele is not stupid and very price-sensitive. If the intention is to do binge drinking and get wasted, the local liquor store (holding the Town’s approval for a considerable extension after a Development Agreement had passed the Council table) will get the business and the drinking will be done at private parties. Some young people come sober or slightly alcoholised already, just for the music. They are not buying any drink at all and will return to their private parties and organized cheap drinking thereafter. (In the meantime I have been more than once at the local liquor store pretending to read labels on various wine bottles while actually watching several groups of young people paying far more than $100 each for kegs or cases of beer and bottles of liquor or wine after a piece of identity was checked to show their legal drinking age.)
- All outlets in Wolfville have to close at 1AM except The Axe at university grounds which seems to be able to follow at least sometimes different rules and regulations. Why there are different regulations for The Axe is not understandable. A difference in closing times at certain dates in the past sometimes resulted in huge hoards of young people with some alcohol content in them leaving our Harbourside outlet at 1AM and walking down Main Street and in the direction of The Axe or going to join private parties planned and organized in advance.
- These young people are still full of energy at 1AM and seem to have no intention to call it a night. The problem of huge groups of young people on Main Street could be eased by allowing our Harbourside outlet to stay open longer. A direct result could then be that people would leave in much smaller parties over time and not all of them at the same point in time - at 1AM - causing sometimes potential problems.
- A big problem I see in the difference of safety and security levels affecting our young people. At our establishment we have to follow e.g. strict fire regulations, provide ventilation and a sufficient oxygen level and employ security personnel to guard the safety of our customers on our premises in general. I doubt very much that the same safety and security levels will be found at private house parties - sometimes attended by big crowds - where young people can drink as much as possible, can smoke, can take drugs and even can fall asleep without any control and/or security at all. Maybe, the mayor should look into this aspect of the drinking problem as well.
- The new minimum price of $2.50 for drinks will change nothing and won’t provide any solution.
If Stead would have shown more leadership and vision he would have asked for a problem-solving meeting with the owner of the Harbourside outlet, the other outlets and with officials of the university and The Axe.
Especially the university should be involved in any discussions looking for solutions. This town and its university are together bound to perform the very difficult task to educate and groom young people - away from home and their parents - to become responsible adults. The Mayor should really understand that the students make this town and without them this town would have very little importance and no business at all.
To try to make the owner of the Harbourside outlet the sole scrape-goat shows nothing but incompetence to me.
It seems to be a fact that Stead wrote in early November a letter to Premier Rodney MacDonald supporting Mr. Preyra’s private member’s bill and jumping on the Halifax bandwagon instead of really trying to find a local solution for Wolfville. The Advertiser even wrote that Stead was calling on the Premier for help.
I really wonder if Stead wrote his letter on his private paper. If he wrote this letter asking for help as Mayor of Wolfville and on the official letter head of Wolfville, this letter, its content and its mailing should have made the Council table beforehand and a necessary motion should have been carried. I shall check the minutes. If nothing will be found in the minutes it will prove again - as with his letter dated October 06, 2008 - that Stead has obviously a mixed understanding of the meaning of the words democracy and dictatorship.
I understand the role of the mayor as the speaker of the council to the public. At the council table he has only one vote like all the other six councillors and he can act and/or speak up about Wolfville issues only after being backed beforehand by the majority of the councillors’ votes. I would not understand it if our Councillors allowed him to play his role any other way.
Lutz E. Becker / January 05, 2009
Comments:
Kyle Steele said...
As a correction - the Axe hasn't served discounted drinks as cheap as the Anvil in over two years. We lowered our prices originally to compete with their dollar drinks but then saw the practice as socially irresponsible and stopped it as of May 2007.
Regards,
Kyle Steele
PresidentAcadia Students' Union
January 13, 2009 2:44 PM
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