Opposition questions effectiveness of early liquor store closures
On several occasions during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, the Vancouver Police Department acted to curb the sale of alcohol in the downtown core.
Generally given very little notice, government and private shops selling liquor, beer, and wine, were told to shut their doors hours ahead of schedule.
The tactic was aimed at curbing public drunkenness and disorderly behavior. And by and large, the massive crowds that came with the Olympics acted responsibly. But for the people’s good behavior, how much credit should go to the VPD’s liquor store closures?
That was a question recently posed to the Straight by Shane Simpson, NDP MLA for Vancouver-Kingsway and critic for housing and social development. (The authority to temporarily close liquor stores in the interest of public safety rests with the liquor control and licensing branch of the Ministry of Housing and Social Development. The VPD can only recommend closures.)
“With the Olympics, we didn’t really see any significant problems,” Simpson said. But he cautioned that it is tough to attribute store closures to a lack of major incidents.
“It is hard to know their effectiveness,” Simpson said in a telephone interview. “Because some people might argue doing that was a good, preventative measure. But you wouldn’t know whether it was successful or not unless you didn’t do it and had a problem.”
The question of the closures’ effectiveness was raised because the VPD has announced that the same strategy could be deployed during the Vancouver Canucks playoff run, which begins tonight (April 15).
Simpson said that while store closures are not an ideal action to take, he supports the VPD’s judgments on public safety and the organization’s subsequent actions aimed at ensuring order is maintained.
But, he added, “What you don’t want is the police to use it [store closures] just as an easy way to manage a problem.”
“There probably needs to be some debrief here,” Simpson continued. “I think it is reasonable, after the fact, to say, ”˜Okay, explain your rational for that and tell us how you think it worked.’”
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Comments
4 Comments
John Goldsmith
Apr 15, 2010 at 5:33pm
This tactic of closing down stores is simply a lazy solution. Even if we don't question the effectivness or our freedom to drink, from a financial perspective the closures are limiting income for residents of British Columbia and Vancouver.
Instead of closing stores, the VPD should simple ticket the abusers. This way, we continue to make money from point of sale purchases but also the fines. By shutting down stores, the province is ,instead, effectively losing two streams of income.
Burnaby Joe
Apr 16, 2010 at 10:25am
Did you see how crazy downtown was before the closures? It was absolutely a necessary measure, and it made a huge difference in terms of making the downtown a safe and fun place to be. Shane Simpson either has a short memory or is ignorant and is grand-standing for his own political gain.
Los C
Apr 18, 2010 at 1:10pm
This city is so backwards, it pains me to see when people like Burnaby Joe are fine with crap like this. BC's liquor laws and regulations are by far the most anal retentive in all of North America. You wouldn't see this in Nevada, New Orleans or even Calgary.
Ironically the 4/20 protest is coming up at the Library Square this week and you'll have a few thousand underage pot-heads roll in from Surrey, Abbotsford, Chilliwack etc, leaving its trademark plume of cloud smoke flowing through the down-town core, and somehow that's more okay then being a happy, stumbley drunk after a good old fashioned hockey game-- beer in hand or not.
And there is something very un-capitalist about making a business close its doors early when they expect high-volume sales. They're just left to suck it up and move on. What's wrong with this picture?
Zaniez
Apr 19, 2010 at 8:27am
Don't we have more important things for our politicians to be dicussing?
Who really cares about liquor stores closing early? Buy your liquor earlier in the day or outside the affected area.
Our politicians need a refresher course in their mandate. They are elected to represent their constituents. I for one would like them to concentrate more on providing the basic goods and services needed for the entire population within reasonable financial limits.
Forget the opposition unless you've got another more reasonable solution.
Politicians and news agencies need to look at their job description and fulfill their responsibilities. If people want the drama and excitement of scandal, fighting and name calling let them watch a 'reality tv show'. When people want serious relevant news they should be able to watch the 'news' and see actual news. When we read about our politicians they should be fulfilling their mandates.
Perspective and priorities.