B.C.’s Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch has fined a Prince Rupert bar $9,000 for serving outside its licensing hours and for a bartender drinking while at work.
In a July 15 decision, branch general manager’s delegate Paul Devine said licensee Kaien Island Holdings Inc. operating as the Sunset Lounge + Grill is authorized to sell liquor from 9 a.m. to 12 a.m., seven days a week.
It was alleged the licensee served alcohol after the permitted hours on Nov. 5, 2023. Inspectors had been in the business late on the night of Nov. 4. Also on that date, inspectors witnessed a bartender consume liquor which was described as potato vodka.
The branch recommended fines of $3,000 for each of those offences.
Further, the branch alleged the licensee failed to produce records as per the Liquor Control and Licensing Act. On that allegation, a monetary penalty of $7,000 or a seven-day licence suspension was recommended.
“These allegations have not been challenged by evidence produced by the licensee, and so I find that the three contraventions occurred as described in the NOEA (notice of enforcement action),” Devine said. “The allegations in the NOEA are consistent with the evidence contained in the notes of the inspectors and RCMP.”
Devine fined the licensee $1,000 each for operating outside of their hours and staff drinking, and $7,000 for failing to produce documents as required.
