Iqaluit councillor suggests motion to close beer and wine store
Romeyn Stevenson says he ‘no longer’ supports shop remaining open
Perhaps it’s time to close Iqaluit’s beer and wine store, says Coun. Romeyn Stevenson, who suggested council could ask the Government of Nunavut to shut it down. (File photo by Arty Sarkisian)
Perhaps it’s time to consider closing the beer and wine store, says one Iqaluit councillor.
Coun. Romeyn Stevenson suggested Tuesday that council could consider passing a motion asking the Government of Nunavut, which owns the store, to shut it down over recurring safety issues such as reports of violence and public alcohol consumption.
Stating that he originally supported the store’s opening back in 2017, Stevenson said he “no longer” does now.
“There is at some point going to be, enough is enough,” he said.
Tuesday’s beer and wine store discussion was prompted by Coun. Methusalah Kunuk, who called on the city to request another meeting with territorial leaders over issues at the store.
Kunuk alleged that people from other restricted communities are buying alcohol at the Iqaluit store, bringing it on their flights and causing problems back home such as bootlegging.
Safety concerns at the beer and wine store have been wrestled around by both city council and the Nunavut legislature over the past two years.
The city sent a letter to the GN last year, calling for action. At the time, Coun. Kyle Sheppard floated the idea of a temporary alcohol ban if things did not improve.
While approving the territory’s budget earlier this year, Finance Minister Lorne Kusugak revealed his department, which oversees the Nunavut Liquor and Cannabis Commission, was looking to relocate the beer and wine store.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Coun. Harry Flaherty echoed Kunuk’s concerns about issues in Iqaluit, saying “nothing has changed” since previous calls to action.
“We are the ones being blamed,” Flaherty said, referring to the city as well as local RCMP officers.
The GN must step up by raising awareness of its Liquor Act and that public consumption is illegal, he said.
“Those who are responsible for this haven’t said anything.”
The councillors made their comments as Sgt. Vlatko Nikolovski, commander of Iqaluit’s RCMP detachment, listened.
Nikolovski’s presentation on the RCMP’s July 2025 activity report and statistics identified a year high of 1,177 calls for service that month of which 555 involved alcohol.
He explained to councillors that police ramped up all-terrain vehicle patrols and road stops over the summer to curb public alcohol consumption.
“I echo the problems that you have outlined,” Nikolovski said.
“We’re trying every day to fight this fight.”
Councillors voted on a motion, as suggested by chief administrative officer Steve England, to send a letter calling for a meeting with representatives from the RCMP and the territory’s departments of Finance, Health and Justice.
Approval was unanimous, with Coun. Amber Aglukark joining her colleagues in pressing the need to act. Four councillors were absent Tuesday.
“Being the capital of Nunavut,” she said, “we set a huge example for the rest of the territory.”
England, who said he has a follow-up meeting planned with Nikolovski, also suggested the city could press the beer and wine store as an issue in the Oct. 27 territorial election.
“I do hold the owner of the beer and wine store fully accountable — that is the Government of Nunavut,” he said.
“Being the capital of Nunavut,” she said, “we set a huge example for the rest of the territory.”
Believe me, most of the territory is not holding Iqaluit up as an example. Most of the territory does not even see Iqaluit as a true representation of Nunavut anyway.
We’re generally ok with that.
Amen to that.🤘
Amen to that.🤘
I explain repeatedly that Iqaluit is not a rep for Nunavut. 👿
Shut it down
Out of curiosity thumbs up to close and thumbs down to keep open
I hope someone in the council is looking at these numbers
So the councillors want more bootleggers??? Because we know from over 100 years of evidence that prohibition does not work –so something is going to give– either there is a beer and wine store which will limit bootlegging / or there is no beer and wine store and bootlegging comes back more so…
How about we have the airport actually check bags on flights to small communities…I could walk on one of those planes with a corpse in my carryon
Its Easyer for My bootleger Neighboor with a jeep to buy beer and ask people too buy more for him at the B&W Store and sale them Later to Thirsty People Willing to pay more then $25 Dalla for only a 6 Pack. so you see ? B&W store does help and contribute to Boot legging
I’m actually surprised that only half of the calls for service were alcohol related. I was expecting it to be at least seventy five percent or higher. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if fifty percent of police calls as alcohol/drug related is pretty standard in most small towns and cities down south.
I think this needs to be thought through more carefully before any rash decisions are made.
An RCMP officer I know who is based in a ‘dry’ (i.e. restricted) community says the rate is 90% there.
Believe your cop buddy…dry towns have more alcohol sometimes than wet towns….still want to prohibit legal sales? Booties will thrive, alive and well and more misery. Can’t win sometimes.
Im in support of this, it needs to go, and everyone in the right mind knows this.
Prohibition fuels black markets, organized crime, and violence, all while costing taxpayers a ton in enforcement. Plus, legalizing and taxing things like alcohol and cannabis creates revenue for public services and ensure products are regulated for safety.
I don’t think they are saying Prohibition. It can go back to the old way of ordering it.
The amount of drunks and beer cans around have changed my mind on the beer and wine store and I use it once a month, but that convience isn’t worth how the town has become.
Please close it. It’s causing more problems than it solves.
For once and maybe the only time I agree with Romeyn, keep fighting the good fight.
I remember it being communicated during covid lock down when people couldn’t go to the gym, work school anything but they beer and wine store had to remain open because it was a matter a life and death for drinkers. So has something changed again?
There was more to it than that. They didn’t want the ER being overrun by people who were suffering from withdrawals. Because of the there was a pandemic and they had limited resources.
That was because the bars had to be closed down to limit exposure to the virus. You can’t reasonably drink in a bar and maintain social distance or masking. But you can distance yourself in the beer store (which they did, keeping strict spacing), wear a mask in the beer store (again, which they did), and then consume your alcohol elsewhere. And don’t be flippant, alcohol withdrawal really can cause delirium tremens, seizures and other serious health problems, so it was necessary to keep it open. If the City and the GN move the store, or close it down now the bars are open so no one is at risk of serious withdrawal symptoms.
I feel like the city and the GN should consider other public disturbance deterrents prior to a full closure in order to provide equal access, rather than continue the draconian rule of prohibition.
It makes perfect sense to close the beer and wine store – of course! Just look at the amounts consumed every year and divide them by the number of residents = those numbers either make no sense or are ridiculously high per person…
Bootleggers existed before, exist now and will exist in the future … same as drug dealers after we stupidly decided to decriminalize marijuana.
Who best controls consumption? The GN – NO WAY!!!! The License Holders ie Restaurants and Bars in town as they are the only ones that face fines, closures and humiliation IF they OVERSERVE US!!!!
So what that they will charge more ? They pay salaries to people that live in town and spend them money in town…
Maybe this isn’t a black and white decision. Theres more options than keep it open or close it down.
Maybe a better solution is to reduce the limit to 6 beer or one bottle per day until the Healing Center opens up.
We should probably just close it. We obviously don’t stand a chance against the problem drinkers in our community.
We can’t handle alcohol, and we probably never will.
A couple questions.
Are the offenders consistently the same people?
How does this compare with other communities that have a beer and wine store?
Such a simplistic solution, that will not work. How about Building a community center? Arts building, we could have built infrastructure for many alternative building, as opposed to a pool that you pushed for. Now you say this after having Amy to lobby for it while at work. People have the right to self determination…
If you didn’t notice they already have security at the Grocery Stores, RBC building, Aquatic Centre, Hotels and even Baffin Gas all because of intoxicated people causing problems. Sorry but we do not need another space for them to ruin for everyone else!
Don’t forget security at the Discovery as well – so all the businesses in that area
What is your point? The city did a horrible job of enforcing the law. This is what you get when you let things get out of control. If drinking public, take beer away, suspend right to purchase. While difficult now that the problem is entrenched, councel needs to do thier job, by implementing
resonable controls. If you do not enforce the law, what is the purpose. You are suggesting curtailing the right of many responsible people, because of the actions of the few. I do not drink.
When i travel to iqaluit for work I like the option of having a few beers at the hotel or a workers place.
When the store first opened it was 12 beer or 2 bottles of wine. Somewhere along the way, the daily maximum was increased to 4 bottles of wine or 24 beer.
Instead of closing, the daily limits should be changed back.
The limits haven’t changed. It’s always been 4 bottles of wine or 24 beer.
When the beer and wine store first open, on Sept. 6, 2017, the limits were 12 beers or 2 bottles of wine. Indeed, these limits double. Also, when it first opened, this store didn’t sell coolers or alcohol mixes, now they do. City Councilors who voted for this were only thinking about money without having the proper infrastructures like rehabs or support mechanism to support responsible drinking. Iqaluit, has become the hub for a lot of things and it has become normal to say “oh they only drink”. It has also become normal to see people openly drink in public, like how is that acceptable? The acceptance and enabling of addictions in Iqaluit is disgusting. Until this city invest in actual supports this problem will not go away.
Iqaluit had a plebiscite to agree to the Beer and Wine store.
Iqaluit had a 3 pilot project period for the Beer and Wine Store during which a large majority of people polled supported it.
Based on that public support, the GN agreed to keep it open past the pilot project period.
On what basis does the City Council now think it can reverse the will of the people?
If you want it closed, or want to vary the operation of the store, very clearly this is not up to City Council – organize another plebiscite.
Happens all the time in Nunavut, Iqaluit is not special in this regard.
It is right there in the Liquor Act, if the City Council and officials cared to crack it open before making their motion.
With the opening of the Aqqusariaq Recovery Centre coming soon, it also seems a weird time for this to be an issue.
Aqqusariaq will be plenty busy dealing with the crack addicts and meth users.
Doesnt greenland have bars and beer stores in pretty much every little town and no restrictions? Why are they so functional compared to iqaluit?
This is a follow up to my earlier comment. I think we need to look very carefully at what exactly the problem is that we believe is being caused by the store.
Is the beer and wine store causing Iqaluit to be a more violent community? The RCMP say that recent statistics show that 50 percent of their calls are alcohol related. Has this percentage been increasing? Is this an upward trend? What percentage of calls were alcohol related before the store opened? Someone needs to dive into that.
Is the real problem drunkenness and disorderly conduct around the store and out on the streets? If that’s the real problem then surely it can be addressed without closing the store. How about better security around the store, Interdiction lists and better street enforcement generally.
We know from past experience that the only one who will be better off with prohibition is Marche Turenne. I bet they can hardly wait for that! Oh and I forgot all of the cargo revenue for Canadian North!!
Alcohol isn’t the issue, homelessness and trauma combined with unsafe consumption of alcohol is. Start building homes, protect youth, and encourage safe drinking. Bootleggers will just get worse and the blame will be shifted to them, but the real issue is not alcohol. More politicians that put Nunavut and Nunavummiut first will be able to show you that alcohol was never the problem.
Thanks, ‘shifting’; you are right, in some respects.
The wine and beer store is not the problem, or even a problem; alcohol is. HOWEVER, alcohol is only a problem for the small percentage who are alcoholic, those who abuse alcohol and those who are directly affected.
We all know that removing the beer and wine store will only shift distribution to bootleggers. That is not debatable. Closing the store will just make matters worse for those who overconsume and for those close to them. They will still overconsume, be drunk in public, deteriorate personally and hurt those close to them. They’ll just pay more and subsidize the undercover organized crime people. More violence.
What to do? Obviously public enforcement of public safety standards has to be improved. Address the problem. That’s an RCMP matter.
Obviously alcohol education and alcoholism treatment has to be improved. Mandatory treatment is necessary for anyone who is flagged. It’s standard practice from civilized judges. The odds of ideas for solutions coming from City Council, the MLAs or the RCMP is practically. These people need to be guided by social experts, treatment specialists, and recovered alcoholics. Not guided by themselves in the guise of gratuitous GN workers, RCMP staff or politicians. They have an important role which they should stick to AND do well.
The ‘alcohol’ problem is a serious one. It needs a serious solution from all people who are serious about solving it
Thanks, ‘S’, for agreeing with me.
There is a legitimate correlation observed by Iqalummiut of the public consumption of alcohol and disorderly conduct. How much of that disorderly conduct is being caused by Molson Dry vs. the less visible intoxicants (methamphetamines, crack, etc,). Do RCMP ‘alcohol involved’ stats reflect this? If someone is arrested while drinking beer (who is also high) how is this recorded? Removing the regulated substance from the market may not have the positive impact that we are hoping for. An increase in the availability of hard drugs may be the elephant in the room….. walking on a community flight with 24 beers may be less of an issue than a backpack full of pills.
If they want to close the store, they should also close permit office. See what Romeyn says after that, he only wants certain people without access to booze but he will still go out and order booze for himself. Makes no sense.
Responsible drinking exist. And if that is with a permit, then yes. The beer and wine store does not only affect Iqaluit, its all the other communities as well. And to have people being robbed coming out of the beer store is unacceptable.
That’s the cost of having a government
There are legal mechanisms to ban people from purchasing alcohol and to hold the people who supply the banned people with alcohol criminally liable. It’s not that hard but no one is stepping up to file the paper work and give a list to the B&W Store of people they cannot sell alcohol to. The B&W can’t ban people legally until that is done.
drunk long & furious face and hear screaming and notice groups of people looking for a victim to steal. might as well close it, im so tired of the pattetic fake friends wanting to praise my name because i have beer and ready to curse my same name as soon as i refuse to give all my beer (till the last one) think about the bad, things missing in house after inviting a fake friend. vehicule smash,house window smash, neighboor thinking your bad cause a dummy is screaming at your appartment being dissrepected. close the darn store and why not stop issuing alchool permits too ? we can all be on crack instead right? no need for beer. (bad joke) but good one hey ? Ati Close it, who cares, only alchoolic cares about alchool
It’s the same people who continue to cause trouble with the RCMP and in the various neighborhood’s (especially near B&W store). The fact that the GN has not dealt with this issue by creating a list of people who are not allowed to purchase from the B&W as a result of public intoxication or RCMP intervention due to alcohol is astonishing. Who ever is in charge of the B&W (D.Y) clearly has their head up their ass , is in favour of the profits, and/or is far too comfy in their job to do anything about it. How hard is it to create a list of people who have lost their privilege to purchase alcohol? It’s time!!! Get on it already ffs.
One bad apple spoils the whole barrelful, with a dozen bad apples!
Put some beans in water, leave on the counter a few days until they naturally ferment, drink it and get super drunk. That’s what the alcoholics will do when there’s no beer and wine store and no bootleggers. Just ask Manitoba about the bean juice problem in “dry communities”. Don’t forget about huffing gas, and the worse stuff.
.
It’s better to control it than ban it…
Is the current situation with the beer and wine store what you would call “controlling” it?