Caterers may soon be able to apply for special occasion liquor licences as well as buy and transport alcohol on behalf of clients.
Solicitor General Rich Coleman told Business in Vancouver February 4 that he is investigating the concerns that BIV raised in a story in December (See “B.C. liquor policy hurting event hosts and caterers” – issue 1102; December 7-13, 2010.)
“It sounds like basic common sense stuff that we should allow for the catering business,” he said. “The question is which stakeholder will complain or make an argument that it shouldn’t be done. There’s one thing about liquor that I’ve learned over the years. I’ve always described it as being like the whack-a-mole game at the Pacific National Exhibition. You push one thing down and something else pops up somewhere else.”
The policy requires event organizers and others who host catered parties to independently buy and transport any alcohol they plan to pour at their event. They must also get an LCLB special occasion licence on their own.
Caterers are prohibited from buying beer, wine or spirits for their customers even if they charge only enough to recoup their costs. Nor may they get special occasion event licences on their clients’ behalf.
Flower shop owners, however, are able to distribute wine in gift baskets.
Lawyers told BIV that all that needs to change is a restrictive clause in the LCLB’s policy manual. Nothing in the Liquor Control and Licensing Act specifically restricts caterers from getting liquor licences or buying and transporting alcohol.