ALCOHOL AND GAMING COMMISSION
OF ONTARIO
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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-
Jianda International Inc. O/A Queen’s Legs (The)
Licensee
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DECISION ON SANCTION
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Panel: Jacqueline Castel, Board Member Guy Maurice, Board Member
Decision Date: June 9, 2009
Hearing Location: Toronto, Ontario
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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 ) Richard Kulis, Representative Jianda International Inc., Licensee ) Zhijian Dou, on behalf of the ) corporate licensee
Allegations
A hearing into Notice of Proposal (“NOP”) number 16731, dated October 20, 2008, to suspend liquor licence number 202042 (the “Licence”), issued to Jianda International Inc. (the “Licensee”) operating as THE QUEEN’S LEGS, 286 Eglinton Avenue West, Toronto, M4R 1B2 (the “establishment” or the “premises”), on the basis of an alleged violation of subsection 30(4) of the Liquor Licence Act (“LLA”) was held on May 4, 2009 in the City of Toronto.
In its decision dated May 19, 2009, the Board found the Licensee violated subsection 30(4) of the LLA. Parties were directed to provide written submissions on an appropriate sanction. The Board has received and reviewed those submissions.
Registrar’s Submissions on Sanction
The Registrar submits that a ten day suspension is appropriate.
The Licensee maintained a “stubborn insistence” on an unsustainable position. It was never disputed that a person under the age of nineteen consumed liquor in the licensed premises. The underage person pled guilty in court as did the Licensee and the Licensee’s daughter (the server). All the same, the Licensee declined opportunities to resolve the matter prior to the hearing and insisted on going through a full hearing with questionable evidence.
The Licensee failed to offer any evidence of remedial measures. In addition, the Licensee served a five day suspension in 2008 for a contravention of subsection 45(1) of Ontario Regulation 719 (the O.Reg.), prescribed under the LLA.
Licensee’s Submissions on Sanction
The Licensee submits that the suspension should be less than ten days.
The Licensee declined to settle this matter earlier because it wanted to prove that the contravention did not occur intentionally. The Licensee pled guilty in court because the bartender failed to recognize the false identification. However, the Licensee did not knowingly serve an alcoholic beverage to a minor.
There have been no other violations concerning minors. Although the two police officers checked the identification of a number of customers, they did not detect any other minors in the premises on the date of the contravention.
The Licensee is remorseful and cooperated with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (“AGCO”).
In the future, the Licensee will “possibly” hire an ex-AGCO inspector as a consultant to “implement and maintain the standards and expectations set out by the AGCO”.
Decision and Reasons
In the circumstances of this case, the Board finds that the ten day suspension proposed by the Registrar is appropriate.
The Board considers violations of subsection 30(4) of the LLA to be very serious.
The Licensee did not present any credible evidence of mitigating or extenuating circumstances for the violation. The Board did not find the Licensee’s evidence, that it verified the underage customer’s identification and he presented another piece of identification (i.e., different than the identification he showed to the police) with a date of birth which would make the owner of the identification nineteen years of age, to be credible in the circumstances.
Moreover, even if the underage customer did show another piece of identification, the Licensee should have had procedures in place to check for false identification or identification belonging to someone other than the person presenting it. These procedures might include, without limitation, confirming that the photograph on the identification resembles the person presenting it; asking to see a second piece of identification; asking the person to provide their name and address to confirm it matches what is on the identification; asking the person to sign his name to confirm it matches the signature on the identification, etc. The Licensee did not testify to doing any of these things, or to taking any other measures, to confirm the authenticity of the identification or that it belonged to the person presenting it.
The Licensee indicated that it will “possibly” hire a former AGCO inspector as a consultant to “implement and maintain standards and expectations set out by the AGCO”. The Board does not consider this vague expression of something which the Licensee may do in the future to be a mitigating factor. The incident occurred over a year ago. The Licensee should have implemented remedial measures, directed specifically at preventing this type of contravention occurring in the future, promptly after the incident. Vague expressions of “possible” future intentions, with no implementation time-lines, cannot be given any weight.
The Board considered that although there have been no prior contraventions by the Licensee of subsection 30(4) or any other section of the LLA pertaining to underage customers, this is not the Licensee’s first contravention. The Licensee contravened subsection 45(1) of the O.Reg. (permitting drunkenness and disorderly conduct) in 2007 and served a five day suspension in respect of this contravention. While the nature of the two contraventions is different, both contraventions are serious and occurred within ten months of each other. As such, this cannot be regarded as an isolated contravention.
Order
Therefore, Board ORDERS that liquor licence number 202042 issued to Jianda International Inc., operating as THE QUEEN’S LEGS, 286 Eglinton Avenue West, Toronto, be suspended for a period of ten (10) days.
The Licensee shall submit proposed suspension dates in writing to the Manager, Hearings Department, Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, at the address on the front of this decision within seven (7) days of the date of this decision. The Board will set suspension dates without further notice to the Licensee if the proposed dates are not provided within that time. The suspension must be served on days the establishment normally operates. The suspension may not start earlier than twenty (20) days from the date of this decision and must be completed within ninety (90) days of the date of this decision.
DATED AT TORONTO THIS 9th DAY OF JUNE, 2009
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JACQUELINE CASTEL, BOARD MEMBER GUY MAURICE, BOARD MEMBER