Public outcry doesn’t deter new bar proponents

MICHAELA RODRIGUE
Nunatsiaq News

IQALUIT — The proponents of a new Iqaluit bar say they won’t back down from their plan to sell booze, despite a public outcry against them.

“I knew it was going to be a controversy but because I want to make a difference, I’m not going to stop,” said Elisapee Sheutiapik, one of the three partners behind the Uvagut bar proposal.

The group went to Town Council this week to defend their proposal.

But a group of local residents opposed to the new bar also attended and urged Iqaluit Town Council to stop it from opening.

“I have voted for you. You have the authority because you have been elected,” said Mary Wilman, chair of the Nunavut Social Development Council.

Wilman, who showed up with about 30 other Iqaluit residents opposed to the bar proposal, talked about the pain that alcohol has inflicted on Iqaluit and said it is now time for healing.

“We have seen a lot of children come from broken families. These children want to get up and make something of themselves. We need to have a more healthy culture,” Elisapee Davidee said.

Other residents spoke of alcohol-related deaths and warned of the risks of locating a bar at the West 40, far away from the community, where they say people may freeze to death on their way home in the winter.

But a member of the group behind the new bar told councillors that Iqaluit needs an Inuit-owned bar to provide better service to residents. Because the bar is locally-owned, she said it will be more accountable to the community. And the bar plans to provide a vehicle to transport people home safely.

She said a moratorium on new bars would only reinforce bad service and over-serving.

“It’s going to tell the current establishment — ‘we have another five years, we don’t have to worry about competition. Give the same old service, treat the patrons the same old way,'” she said.

The proponents of the bar say their petition in favour of the bar received 850 signatures. That proves there is demand for new bars in Iqaluit, they say.

Town Coun. Doug Lem recently proposed the Town impose a five-year moratorium on all new liquor establishments. The Town has since discovered that it doesn’t have the power to ban bars.

Instead, council passed a motion stating it will publicly oppose any new local liquor applications made to the Nunavut Liquor Board over the next five years.

The council also plans to ask the Nunavut government to stop any new licences from being issued until the new Nunavut Liquor Board is established and the Nunavut Liquor Act is reviewed.

But the group behind the new bar say the council’s actions will not stop their application. The Uvagut bar’s application was filed on August 6.

“I don’t think they have the jurisdiction to have control,” Sheutiapik said.

The fate of the proposed Uvagut bar is now in the hands of the Liquor Licensing Board. Should the board grant the Uvagut Bar preliminary approval, advertisements will be placed in newspapers calling for public opinion.