Login / RegisterCorinne Lea: Why won't Christy Clark put jobs first at East Vancouver's Rio Theatre?
Corinne Lea, owner of the Rio Theatre, sent out an open letter today (February 7). We've posted it here without editing.
(Editor's note: The Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival screenings originally scheduled to take place at the Rio Theatre have been moved to Denman Cinemas.)
ATTENTION: Christy Clark and Shirley Bond,
You may not be aware, while you’re busy shaking hands and talking about job creation, I’m up most nights trying to figure out how to SAVE the RIO THEATRE from going out of business because YOUR STAFF at the Liquor Control Board have BANNED MOVIES at our local Theatre.
Maybe you haven’t heard of The Rio, but it’s the only single screen theatre left in East Vancouver. We just won BEST EAST SIDE Theatre in the Courier and The Rio was voted 3rd Best Theatre in all of Vancouver in the Best of The Georgia Straight. We're VERY proud of our achievements.
YOUR Staff at the Liquor Control Board are putting me out of business. After waiting over a year they finally issued us our liquor license and now they say we can’t show movies WITHOUT alcohol. We were aware that you can't show movies WITH BAR service in BC but we did not anticipate the LCLB would strictly enforce a BAN on movies WITHOUT alcohol at our venue. The RIO is the only theatre in BC that has this condition added to it's license that says we can NOT show "MOVIES OF ANY KIND AT ANY TIME".
EVERY THEATRE IN TOWN IS ALLOWED TO SHOW MOVIES WITHOUT ALCOHOL. EVEN BARS AND RESTAURANTS CAN SHOW MOVIES.
IF YOU DO NOT ACT SOON and put an END TO THIS DISCRIMINATORY RULING, WE WILL HAVE TO CLOSE. IT’S PAYROLL TODAY and since YOUR STAFF CANCELED the VIMFF, a World Renown Film Festival, scheduled to open THIS WEEKEND, I CAN’T PAY MY STAFF. We have been FORCED TO ENDURE 17 DAYS OF CLOSURES DUE TO CANCELED FILM SCREENINGS! Our successful programming has been left in ruins. WE HAVE LOST ABOUT $40,000 in lost revenue! That’s 12% HST TAX money your government won’t receive from us. I’ve had to LAY OFF SEVERAL STAFF. OVER 30 EAST VAN JOBS WILL BE LOST PERMANENTLY IF YOU DON’T DO SOMETHING TO CORRECT THIS IMMEDIATELY.
If The Rio was a beloved Community Theatre in your riding, in POINT GREY or PRINCE GEORGE would you LET OUR DOORS CLOSE? Would YOU LET people lose their jobs OVER AN OUTDATED BUREAUCRATIC RULE THAT LACKS COMMON SENSE? WOULD YOU LET YOUR COMMUNITY LOSE ITS LAST REMAINING VIBRANT SINGLE SCREEN THEATRE AND WATCH IT TURN INTO A DARKENED EMPTY SHELL?
Shirley Bond says SHE is NOT the DECISION MAKER on this issue. She refuses to do anything to stop the LCLB from killing our business. BY HER OWN INACTION AND YOURS, YOUR GOVERNMENT is willingly allowing YOUR staff to shut down AN EASTSIDE SUCCESS. This abuse of power has to stop. Christy Clark if you won’t stop the LCLB from shutting us down then who will?
THERE IS NO PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUE IF THERE IS NO ALCOHOL SERVED AT FILM SCREENINGS.
STOP THE BAN ON MOVIES AT THE RIO TODAY.
Sincerely, Corinne Lea, Owner of the Rio Theatre
Would that make me a criminal? Because I didn't get a license to watch movies with other people? What if it was 150 people instead of 5. Have I become a criminal now? Where's the line?
Most importantly, what is it about voluntary transactions on private property that requires licenses, threats and armed enforcement? Why is it so fucking difficult for people to understand that "regulation" simply means "pointing guns at peaceful people".
Oh well, let's elect some more progressively delusional statist control freaks, then bitch about it when they take over and destroy the economy with bureaucratic snare traps, as if we didn't see it coming.
Would she be allowed to exhibit movies if they make The Rio a 19+ theater? I'm assuming they'd be able to do it because the Cineplex in Coquitlam serves alcohol in a 19+ designated area.
She must've deserved this, she should've read the fine print! If the theatre was so good, people would show up in droves! There's no way someone in a position of authority could have done something stupid.
It wasn't as if there was a gun to anyones head in all this. As far as I can see, the agreement was signed by the operator (who we'll give the benefit of the doubt to and say she was in her right mind at the time).
To the best of my knowledge, when you sign an agreement, - barring mental illness or age guidelines - you're obliged to live up to that agreement.
Either someone didn't give this a thorough going over or they're doing the old "poor me" routine.
I'm going to guess that an East side theatre is no big deal on the Liberal radar at this point (who votes Liberal on the east side?) and that all the appeals to the typically lame duck, hypocritical Commercial Drive crowd will go nowhere.
Let's face it - Commercial Drive is full of ineffectual gasbags and two-faced humps who talk horses*** and then move on to signing petitions via Facebook, before hunkering down to scrawl the script for their latest student film at Prado's.
(Because Tim Hortons is where all the stinky old people and first nations people hang out - ewwwww.....)
Guess what RIO?
Here comes a better GENTRY!
wah, WAH, WAH - go cry in your stale popcorn.
This is why lawyers exist. They help you get clarity on statute and regulations. They are relatively good value. Your lack of business acumen is nobody else's fault but your own.
Further, if you must allocate fault outside of the obvious (yourself), you really should be looking to Al Gore (inventor of the internet), Alan Greenspan (facilitator of the current global recession) or Wen Jiabao (premiere of the nation that has taken a bulk of North American middle class jobs) rather than the current provincial government.
It's the same bullshit the Rickshaw went through for nearly 2 years before they got a permenant liquor license.
Thank God the Rickshaw had an owner willing to put the effort in and go through the bureaucratic crap week in week out until they got their liquor license and now look what Vancouver has because of this effort, a darn good live music venue.
Now we have the same bullshit going on at the Rio the only difference is the Rio has received their liquor license and just wants to continue showing movies to maximize theatre REVENUE....they have no problem not serving alchol during those times!
It appears to me like a no brainer.
So why is the government/lclb no matter who's responsible so pathetic that they can't accept this compromise that the Rio is willing to accept?
I feel sorry for the Owner of the Rio, Corrine, her staff and ultimately Vancouver citizens who are in jeopardy of losing a cool Venue for live music and quality films.
By the way BC Govt go checkout the Broadway Theatre in Saskatoon a live Venue that also shows films and guess what my God they serve alcohol during live events and you know what it works just fine.
Yes that's the forward thinking big worldly city of Saskatoon.
Are we embarrassed yet?
Also to all the idiots dissing Corrine and the Rio Theatre with some of your assinine comments about reading the fine print, booking more live events, receiving free press etc without probably having even setting foot in this establishment and/or having no understanding how the live music business works, go away, your comments are uninformed and tiresome.
www.broadwaytheatre.ca/
Let's keep this government accountable! THEY work for US! Not the other way around.
Yep! Business as usual in Vancouver.
Pages