Iqaluit bar fined $10,000, closed for 6 days over liquor infractions

Chartroom cited for serving intoxicated patrons and gambling

The Chartroom bar is serving a six-day liquor licence suspension by closing for three Wednesdays and three Fridays in January and will pay a $10,000 fine for violating the Liquor Act on two occasions in 2024, the Nunavut Liquor and Cannabis Board says. (Photo by Daron Letts)

By Daron Letts

The Chartroom sports bar in Iqaluit will close for six days in January and pay a $10,000 fine after It was found to have violated Nunavut’s Liquor Act on two occasions last year.

The Nunavut Liquor and Cannabis Board released its decision Tuesday from a recent hearing.

The Chartroom acknowledged the Liquor Act offences of permitting intoxicated people to remain in the bar and permitting gambling in the bar, in an agreed statement of facts, the decision said. These incidents took place on July 22, 2024, and Sept. 14, 2024, said Kenny Bell, policy analyst/executive secretary to the Nunavut Liquor and Cannabis Board.

Intoxicated patrons were permitted on the premises on both dates, an agreed statement of facts used at the hearing said.

Gambling took place on July 22, it added.

Five people were observed playing patik — a card game — and there was a pile of cash on the table, the document said.

Players threw $5 bills into the centre of the table between rounds of patik. One man placed his head on the table and appeared to pass out. He raised his head a few minutes later but fell asleep again, the statement said.

The inspector spoke to the supervisor on duty at 9:45 p.m. and the intoxicated person was removed.

Nobody from the Chartroom responded to requests for comment. The bar announced on its social media pages that it will be closed on Wednesdays and Fridays between Jan. 8 and 24.

An establishment with a liquor licence has an obligation to ensure the safe and responsible use of alcohol in the community, Valerie Inukpuk, chair of the Nunavut Liquor and Cannabis Board, stated the decision.

“It is particularly concerning when the licence holder continues to serve alcohol to persons who are already clearly intoxicated and then permits them to engage in gambling, which is also clearly prohibited on licensed premises,” she said.

The Chartroom paid more than $8,000 in COVID-19 pandemic related fines in 2021 for violating public health capacity rules.

The establishment’s cocktail lounge license was issued by the Board in June 2019, and has been renewed annually since that date.

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(11) Comments:

  1. Posted by How many times? on

    How many times has this establishment been caught? When will their license be revoked?

    Nice to see Kenny Bell land on his feet…

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  2. Posted by Eyes & ears on

    Close this down enough incidents and too much going on ,
    Liquor board when will you revoke fully to close this place,

    Eyes & ears

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        • Posted by Tips on

          Drinking and bars does not equal being drunk. It isn’t normal outside of Iqaluit to go to a bar and order two drinks at once. So yes, I am a fan of having some drinks and going to a bar. What I’m not a fan of is being falling down drunk or out of control or being around those who are. The Chartroom is the establishment in town where you are most likely to find those situations.

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  3. Posted by Bad Dad Simeoniw on

    its not the place its the workers and management that are at fault,Fire these guys

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    • Posted by Tapry on

      An establishment is the management and employees. Do you think everyone is picking on the building?

  4. Posted by Mephistopheles on

    Send John Tafffer, of “Bar Rescue” there. Maybe he can “fix” the Chatroom.
    Start with staff training…..

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