Liquor board shoots down Uvagut bar proposal

MICHAELA RODRIGUE

IQALUIT — The Nunavut liquor board has turned down a controversial application to licence a new cocktail lounge in Iqaluit’s West 40 district.

But the refusal isn’t a death knell for the idea, the would-be bar owners say.

“We’re not giving up, we’re warming up,” says Uvagut bar proponent Ross Bennett.

Bennett, his daughter Carmen Kootoo, and Elisapee Sheutiapik first sparked debate last July when they began circulating petitions in favour of opening a new drinking establishment in Iqaluit.

Iqaluit residents later spoke out against the bar at a town council meeting and a liquor board-sponsored public hearing last December.

The proponents promised an accountable, Inuit-owned establishment that would meet Nunavut’s growing demand for entertainment. The proponents also promised a full-time driver to ensure that wayward patrons wouldn’t freeze on their way home.

But in the end, it was the public outcry combined with a number of regulatory stumbling blocks that convinced liquor board members to turn down the Uvagut Bar application.

“Iqaluit after all… is still a small community and the residents of this community said no,” Arlooktoo said. “Who are we to say no, you must have this whether you like it or not.”

One day after the controversial decision was announced, Bennett and Sheutiapik described their disappointment and their resolve to move forward.

“Our Nunavut government doesn’t mean anything to me now because I don’t have enough power or money to get anywhere, to face the people that are decision makers,” Sheutiapik said.

The trio plan to meet with their lawyer, Sue Cooper, to discuss strategy.

It could include an appeal of the decision or a call for a plebiscite to decide if Iqaluit should continue to allow licensed establishments to operate.

“Let’s go plebiscite, man, if it’s such a big issue,” Sheutiapik said.

The Uvagut bar proposal was the first major application to hit the Nunavut board, and the newly-anointed board members were careful to ensure their decision was “thorough and dependable,” Arlooktoo said.

Board members said the proposed location for the 130-seat bar is too close to the municipality’s sewage lagoon, and would breach the Nunavut Public Health Act. The act does not allow public buildings within 450 meters of a waste disposal ground.

Iqaluit’s Discovery Lodge Hotel and Toonoonik Hotel are also within 450 meters, but were given a special exemption, Arlooktoo said.

The proposed location would also violate the municipality’s zoning regulations, Arlooktoo said.

“I think the biggest problem was the location — the zoning issue. And the other thing I think future applicants need to do is have agreement, or make peace with the community governments. Those two things, above all I think, will have a big effect on what the board decides,” he said.

Iqaluit’s town council has pledged to publicly oppose any new liquor licence application for the next five years.

But the bar’s three proponents maintain a petition bearing 1,100 signatures proves there’s demand for a new establishment. And they say the liquor board should concentrate on enforcing the rules it already has in place before it bars new establishments from operating.

“How come there isn’t a full-time liquor inspector? It seems they want to make the rules, but they don’t want to enforce them,” Bennett said.

“If they’re into improving things, give somebody else the chance to make a difference,” Sheutiapik said.

During last December’s public hearing, the proponent’s lawyer cautioned board members against considering factors that were outside of its mandate.

She said it would be up to the applicants to assume the risk of applying for a zoning variance.

Cooper may argue the reasons outlined by the board are also outside of its mandate, Arlooktoo said.

“She’s a lawyer and that is her job. And I respect her. I think the board is obliged to take all factors into consideration,” Arlooktoo.

Arlooktoo said because the board is a quasi-judicial body, the rules of evidence are less strict than that of a court.