10 - Friday, February 28, 1997 — North Shore News Update B.C.’s lamentable Ii By Geotfrey Howes Contributing Writer TELL me — has this has ever happened to you? You and a friend go out to a movie. Afterwards, you think it would be nice to go for a drink. You go to your favorite restaurant nearby. You order a glass of wine, your friend orders a beer. The server asks you if you intend to eat. You both had dinner before the movie, not to mention some popcorn, so eating again is the last thing on your mind. You say, “No thanks.” Your server says, “Sorry, the government liquor regulations in B.C. say you must intend to consume a meal in order to be served an alcoholic beverage.” You insist you only want to have one drink. The server apologizes profusely. “We could lose our license.” You say you understand, sort of. You call it a night. Or try this. You and a group of friends go out to dinner. Another friend is going to join you later on, after dinner. Your friend arrives just as you finish dessert. He or she decides to join you for a liqueur. The server says that while you can enjoy a drink, your new arrival cannot, because the liquor laws of B.C. forbid it. You must intend to order a meal. Or, maybe you know this one. Relatives are visiting from Ontario. On the way home from the airport, you trade jibes about the Canucks and Leafs, the Grizzlies and Raptors, and recCentre Spring Registration Starts Saturday, March 1 Registration numbers handed out at 7:30am (8:15am at N.S.Neighbourhood House) Registration starts at 8:30am at Griffin, Delbrook, Lonsdale, Magnussen, Andrews & N.S.Neighbourhood House Aduit Hockey Registration February 28, 5:00pm at Magnussen 98 7-PLAY(7529) Register at a later date for programs that do not fill immediately. Call $87-PLAY for details. who's had the worse weather this winter (they have). You decide to stop ata restaurant for a drink. Even though the restaurant is licensed, you can't be served unless you order a meal. Your relatives from Ontario scorn vou. Oh, that hurts. Bravely, vou try to bring up the Maple Leafs again, but they can’t get over what a backward place BC. is because vou can’t even order a drink in a restaurant. You tell them how the relatives from England reacted when they found out the same thing last summer. If any one of these scenarios has ever happened to you, you're not alone. Batish Columbia's liquor licensing regu- lations are the most complicated and archaic in North America — the world for that matter. Even if you did get served in any one of these instances, the restaurant would be in breach of the law. This is silly. It’s time for a change. For eight months we have been hearing Premier Glen Clark and Attorney General Ujjal Dosanjh spout wonderful rhetoric about B.C.’s outdated liquor laws. But when the time came to take action, all the brave talk was just that: talk. This is clearly a government that believes it can say one thing and do anoth- er. The people of B.C. deserve better than this NDP trickery. The government’s house-keeping review of liquor policy i is testimony to the lies our government tells us. The issue of being able to order a drink in the holding lounge of a licensed restaurant is amazingly not cn the agenda. This is an absolute joke. The government is sadly out of touch with the people of British Columbia. A new MarkTrend poll says that an over- “British Columbia’s liquor licensing regulations are the most complicated and archaic in North America — the world for that matter.” quor laws whelming majority of British Columbians think these rules cre wrong and thar this issue should be part of the government’s mini-review of liquor policy. Almost 80% of you think you should be able to order a drink in a licensed restaurant hold- ing lounge like vou can in other provinces and states. The B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association agrees. The government needs a wake-up call. The quickest way to change these outdat- ed rules is by speaking up to your local MLA, Attorney General Dosanjh and the Premier. Tell them what you think. Tell them to bring B.C.’s liquor laws into the 2st century. You can call the Premier at his Vancouver office at (604) 660-2721 or in Victoria at (250) 387-0986. Does Premier Clark have the courage to stand up to the special interest groups who want to cling onto the status quo? Isn't it time Premter Clark stood up for the public’s interests instead of special interests? It’s time the Premier practiced what he preached. Maybe now we'll find out, to use his own words, whose side he’s real- ly on. — Geoffrey Howes is the vice-president of government affairs for the B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Associatiot. The North Shore News regularly allocates space for reader input on a wide range of community issues in the form of guest columns. 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