With the summer season set to begin, Powell River chapter of Campaign for Real Ale Society (CAMRA) president Paddy Treavor wrote to BC Attorney General Suzanne Anton for answers regarding the Liquor Distribution Board’s continued rejection of a liquor licence for Savary Island General Store.
Under new recommendations and guidelines, both the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch and provincial government have made it clear that their priorities are to enforce restriction of under-aged drinking, over-serving, over-crowding of licensed establishments and the sale of illegal liquor. By all accounts, said Treavor, the Savary application fits the stated mandate without exception.
“This decision by the Liquor Distribution Branch (LDB) seems to fly in the face of attempts to stamp out the sale of illegal liquor,” Treavor said. “When there’s a need in the marketplace, someone will fill that need, legally or not.” He does say, however, that the logic upon which the rejection is based—that the Savary store falls within 10 kilometres of a retail liquor store located across the water, on the mainland in Lund, is flawed. “Its position is not supported by policy directives as they are written in LDB rule book,” he said. “The decision to deny the Savary Island RAS [rural agency store] contradicts the BC Liberal government’s move to modernize BC liquor laws and contradicts their own policies.”
In the recently released Liquor Policy Review Final Report, submitted to the office of the justice minister and attorney general by parliamentary secretary John Yap, it states that the review should consider all aspects of liquor policy. It must also provide recommendations to “create a licensing system that is sensitive to emerging marketplace realities and reflects current lifestyles and societal values.” It must provide flexibility for businesses, remove operational barriers to help grow the economy, and provide for an efficient and effective liquor distribution system.
“The rule book states that an RAS must be a minimum of 10 kilometres’ driving distance from the nearest existing GLS, LRS or RAS, where access is by all-weather road,” said Treavor. “Obviously, being an island, Savary has no access by an all-weather or any other type of road.”
Treavor pointed out that limited moorage access for the overwhelming majority of people on the island is by Lund Water Taxi, which runs from 9 am to 6 pm during the high season and far less frequently during the rest of the year. “It’s costly and impractical to travel to Lund just to purchase alcohol if you are vacationing or living on Savary,” he said. “Encouraging people to get into their boats after they’ve been drinking is irresponsible. The situation on Savary presents just this problem.”
Treavor impressed upon Anton that the Savary store application has the full support of Powell River Regional District, MLA Nicholas Simons, and the Campaign For Real Ale Society of BC – Powell River. “In fact, the only opposition I have been able to find is from the LDB who, for some reason, continuously ignore the need for a liquor outlet in such a popular and secluded area as Savary Island—unless there is some unseen opposition lobbying the LDB for the denial of the Savary RAS application.”
