ยป Letter to the Editor: Making Victoria Less Fun
I am writing to commend the staff of Veneto Lounge. On Saturday night they cut off a table of middle-aged mothers whose night on the town had come to slurred speech and lewd gestures.
The women weren’t causing trouble and I can’t imagine anyone was worried that another round of cocktails would end in a brawl. Rather, the staff were merely fulfilling their obligations under the Liquor Control and Licensing Act: “A person must not sell or give liquor to an intoxicated person or a person apparently under the influence of liquor.”
This is why there’s no need for a Late Night Task Force to study hot dog stands and pedicabs. The solution for downtown rowdiness is simply to enforce the Act. Establishments that won’t do their part for public order should have their liquor licenses revoked.
Victoria is the safest place in the world. This “Late Night Task Force” is clearly a funding grab by the cops — there’s always money in crackdowns.
This kind of hysteria can get Orwellian fast.
What we don’t want is for nightclubs to build a common database and track patrons by their ID, like they do in Vancouver. How long does that data live? Who has access to it? There are lots of uncomfortable, unanswered questions.
If the cops are concerned about uncontrollable brawls — which don’t happen here — better to stagger club closing times over the hour of two with some kind of lottery, instead of dumping all the drunks into the same pizza shops at two on-the-dot.
Or, yes, just use the laws we already have.
“Being scared of the night” isn’t a sufficient reason to involve the police. People who think that need to sack up and look at Victoria’s crime rate stats. Canada-wide, we’re all safer than we’ve ever been — ever.
Get some perspective, stop watching the “if-it-bleeds-it-leads” news shows, and stop letting the cops tell you “we need more money to make you saferest” — that’s not actually a word.
Jack
1 Jun 09 at 10:39 am
[...] on Review: Star TrekStar Trek aesthetic is the suck anyway. Giant flow… »Jack on Letter to the Editor: Making Victoria Less FunVictoria is the safest place in the world. This “L… »Jared on Review: Star Trek@Alex: What’s [...]
Re: Letter to the Editor: Making Victoria Less Fun | MentalPolyphonics
2 Jun 09 at 11:56 am