Solicitor General Shirley Bond is rejecting requests from restaurateurs to end B.C.’s status as the only province that forbids restaurant and bar owners from changing their price for an alcoholic drink during the day.
Bar and restaurant owners like Acacia Fillo Bar owner Vera Eftovska currently must charge the same price for a drink throughout the day and have enough supply to ensure that they do not run out of stock for their specials.
“We know that happy-hour promotions can encourage overconsumption, which can have negative implications on public safety issues such as drinking-and-driving and alcohol-fuelled violence,” Bond told Business in Vancouver October 26. "Given this, BC isn’t considering changes to happy hours at this time."
Eftovska started advertising happy hour specials at her five-year-old Denman Street eatery earlier this month. She was unaware that such an offer is illegal in B.C. (See “Restaurateurs agitate for liquor regulation changes” – BIV Business Today; October 25.)
When BIV alerted her that she was breaking the law, she searched the Internet to confirm that fact and then said that she would stop offering beer and wine at a slight discount between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.
“I was just trying to attract some customers,” she said.
Other bar owners have told BIV that they too want the freedom to change the price of a drink during the day. (See “Bar owners take a shot at B.C. liquor regulations” – issue 867; June 6-12, 2006.)
Glen Korstrom
@GlenKorstrom