ALCOHOL AND GAMING COMMISSION OF ONTARIO
IN THE MATTER OF The: Liquor Licence Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L.19, as amended
B E T W E E N:
Registrar, Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario Registrar
-and-
1443614 Ontario Inc. O/A Tila Tequila Bar Licensee
DECISION ON FINDINGS
Panel: Kirsti Hunt, Vice-Chair Alex McCauley, Board Member
Decision Date: January 14, 2009
Hearing Location: Ottawa, Ontario
Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario 90 Sheppard Avenue East, Suite 300 Toronto, ON M2N 0A4 Phone: (416) 326-0366 Fax: (416) 326-5566 Toll Free In Ontario: 1-800-522-2876 Website: www.agco.on.ca
Appearances
Registrar, Alcohol and Gaming Commission ) Joyce Taylor, Representative 1443614 Ontario Inc., Licensee ) Charles Gibson, Representative ) Jerry Levitan, Representative
Allegations
- A hearing into Notice of Proposal number 15601 dated August 22, 2007, to suspend liquor licence number 805577 (the “Licence”) issued to 1443614 Ontario Inc., operating as TILA TEQUILA BAR, 104 – 108 Clarence Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 5P6, (the “establishment” or the “premises”) on the basis of alleged violations of section 29 of the Liquor Licence Act (“LLA”) and section 43 and subsection 45(1) of Ontario Regulation 719/90 (“O.Reg”) made pursuant to the LLA, was held on April 8 and 9, July 2, July 3 and October 16, 2008, in the City of Ottawa.
Decision
- After considering all the evidence and submissions, the Board FINDS that the Licensee breached section 43 and subsection 45(1) of the O. Reg and section 29 of the LLA.
Preliminary Matters
The Board ordered the exclusion of witnesses on consent of parties.
Charles Gibson, represented the Licensee on April 8 and 9, July 2 and 3, 2008 and Jerry Levitan represented the Licensee on October 16, 2008.
Registrar`s Evidence
February 9, 2007
Inspector Mark Lambert, an AGCO inspector, attended at the licensed premises on February 9, 2007 at 1:21 a.m. in an undercover capacity. He noted that the premises was about three-quarters full with about 300 patrons. He described the interior of the premises with the aid of a floor plan (Exhibit #1a) and marked his approximate position against the wall opposite the service bar with an “O”. He agreed that he was in a high traffic area.
He observed eight allegedly intoxicated patrons at the bar and service of alcohol to four of them. He marked the location of the patrons on Exhibit #1a as P1, P2 etc. and described what they were wearing and their demeanour and actions which led him to conclude that they were drunk.
Patron 1, with KARN on the sleeve of his shirt (K written backwards), was drinking from two red drinks with ice in them. He had a hard time standing and appeared unbalanced, bumping into people standing and walking past. His eyes were squinty and half closed. He had lethargic hand motions and would give a thumbs-up sign several times while speaking to his friends. At one point, he leaned on the bar and put his head down on his arms on the bar. He appeared not to be able to hold himself up under his own power. The male poured one drink into the other and it spilled onto the ground. He continually missed the straw in the glass when he brought the drink toward his mouth.
A female bartender spoke with him and served him another drink into which she poured vodka.
While standing at the bar, the male took pictures of himself with a digital camera but the camera was backwards and he kept taking pictures of the crowd. The inspector demonstrated how the male kept looking at the picture on the camera in an unfocussed way, frowning and taking another picture.
Several staff walked by the male and the female bartender but they took no notice of his condition.
Patron 2, wearing a hoodie with Canada written on it in red, appeared extremely unbalanced and would continuously fall into the friends around him. When leaning towards the bar, he kept falling sideways. His eyes were very droopy and sleepy. He ordered a tequila shooter which was served to him by a male bartender wearing a plaid shirt and a tie. The patron drank the shooter.
Patron 3, wearing a green hooded sweatshirt, lost his balance while trying to cut a corner and walked into the inspector. He tried to talk to the inspector as if he knew him but the inspector did not know him. The inspector could not make out what the