Editor’s Note: Corrigenda released on October 30, 2009 and November 26, 2009 . Texts of the corrigenda are appended to this decision
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 Ontario
Registrar
-and-
CI Vediamo Inc. O/A Ci Vediamo Ristorante
Licensee
DECISION
Panel: Allan Higdon, Board Member Joan Lougheed, Board Member
Decision Date: October 26, 2009
Hearing Location: Toronto, Ontario
Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario 90 Sheppard Avenue East, Suite 300 Toronto, ON M2N 0A4 Phone: (416) 326-0366 Toll Free In Ontario: 1-800-522-2876 Fax: (416) 326-5566 Website: www.agco.on.ca
Appearances
Registrar, Alcohol and Gaming Commission ) Phillip Morris, Representative CI Vediamo Inc., Licensee )
[1]. A hearing into Notice of Proposal number 17167 dated April 9, 2009 to suspend liquor license number 805188 issued to CI Vediamo Inc., (“Licensee”) operating as CI VEDIAMO RISTORANTE, 1910 Queen Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4L 1H7 on the basis of alleged violations of subsections 45(1) and 45(2) of the Liquor Licence Act (the “LLA”) was held on October 22, 2009 in the City of Toronto.
[2]. Helen Iliodromitis is the shareholder, officer and director of the Licensee. No one appeared on behalf of the Licensee.
[3]. The Chair of the Panel convened the hearing, scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m., at 10:00 a.m. to allow the Applicant additional time to appear at the hearing. Neither the Licensee nor any representative appeared.
[4]. The Board noted that Mr. Jerry Levitan had forwarded prior notice at the pre-hearing conference call that he was no longer the counsel of record for the Licensee.
[5]. Maxine Gordon is the Administrative Notification Coordinator at the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. In this capacity she issues the Notice of Hearing to Licensees or Applicants due to appear before the Board. Ms Gordon appeared as a witness to give evidence on whether the Licensee received proper notice of the hearing. Ms. Gordon confirmed that the normal processes had been followed and that a registered letter to the Licensee did not come back by return mail. As well, a phone call was made and a message left to further advise Ms. Iliodromitis of the date of the hearing.
[6]. Mr. Morris requested permission to proceed ex parte as no response had been received from the Licensee to the Notice of Hearing and further attempts to reach her had been unsuccessful.
[7]. The Board AGREED to proceed ex parte as the Licensee had not appeared at the hearing despite the panel waiting until 10:00 a.m. to commence the hearing, had not responded to the Notice of Hearing or further attempts to reach her, and had presented no account of extenuating circumstances that would explain her absence.
[8]. Jade Leadbetter, an Inspector with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, stated that a complaint had been received from the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (“LCBO”) informing the office that the Licensee was on a no-serve status list as a result of arrears for liquor purchases. The LCBO reported two NSF cheques in the amounts of $955.73 and $2,291.79 as of May 2008. Repeated attempts to receive receipts were unsuccessful.
Registrar’s Submissions
[9]. The Registrar asked for a finding under subsections 45(1) and 45(2) of the LLA as the Licensee had failed to provide relevant information for inspection and therefore obstructed the inspector and failed to facilitate and inspector.
Reasons
[10]. The request for receipts was made by the inspector a year ago. The two months of receipts were never provided, despite repeated attempts to obtain the information. It is clear that the Licensee is in breach of subsections 45(1) and 45(2), not having provided information required for the purpose of an inspection and not facilitating an inspection relevant to the licence.
Order
[11]. Therefore, the Board confirms its oral ORDER that liquor licence number 805188 issued to CI Vediamo Inc., operating as CI VEDIAMO RISTORANTE, 1910 Queen Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4L 1H7 be SUSPENDED for THIRTY (30) consecutive days to COMMENCE at 11:00 a.m. on October 27, 2009, and CONTINUE until 2:00 a.m. on November 26, 2009.
DATED AT TORONTO THIS 26^th^ DAY OF October , 2009.
ALLAN HIGDON, BOARD MEMBER JOAN LOUGHEED, BOARD MEMBER
Corrigendum 1
IN THE MATTER OF THE LIQUOR LICENCE ACT
R.S.O. 1990, c. L. 19 s. 15(1) AND 21(1)
AND IN THE MATTER OF THE LIQUOR LICENCE OF
CI VEDIAMO INC., OPERATING AS CI VEDIAMO RISTORANTE
1910 QUEEN STREET EAST, TORONTO
LICENCE NUMBER 805188
AMENDED ORDER
WHEREAS a hearing into Notice of Proposal number 17167 dated April 9, 2009 to suspend liquor license number 805188 issued to CI Vediamo Inc., (“Licensee”) operating as CI VEDIAMO RISTORANTE, 1910 Queen Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4L 1H7 on the basis of alleged violations of subsections 45(1) and 45(2) of the Liquor Licence Act (the “LLA”) was held on October 22, 2009 in the City of Toronto;
AND WHEREAS in its decision of October 26, 2007 the Board found that the Licensee had breached subsections 45(1) and 45(2) of the LLA and ordered a THIRTY (30) day suspension of the liquor licence;
AND WHEREAS at the joint request of Phillip Morris, Registrar’s Representative and Jerry Levitan, Licensee’s Representative, the Board reconvened to consider a request to modify the suspension dates. Both Board Members were in agreement that there were unique extenuating personal and financial issues that merited consideration and support the request for a change in dates for the suspension.
THEREFORE the Board ORDERS that the liquor licence issued to 805188 issued to CI Vediamo Inc., operating as CI VEDIAMO RISTORANTE, 1910 Queen Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4L 1H7 be SUSPENDED for THIRTY (30) days to COMMENCE at 11:00 a.m. on October 27, 2009, and CONTINUE until 2:00 a.m. on October 31, 2009 and RECOMMENCE at 11:00 a.m. on January 2, 2010 and continue to 2:00 a.m. on January 28, 2010.
DATED AT TORONTO THIS 30^TH^ DAY OF October , 2009.
ALLAN HIGDON, BOARD MEMBER JOAN LOUGHEED, BOARD MEMBER
Corrigendum 2
November 26, 2009
Phillip Morris
Registrar’s Representative
Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario
90 Sheppard Avenue East
Toronto, Ontario M2N 0A4
(Fax: 416-326-5574)
Helen Iliodromitis
Ci Vendiamo Ristorante
1910 Queen Street East
Toronto, Ontario M4L 1H7
Re: Ci Vendiamo Ristorante
Licence No. 805188
Amended Order dated October 30, 2009
In the Amended Order dated October 30, 2009, there were typographical errors in the last paragraph.
Pursuant to Rule 2.6 of the AGCO Revised Rules of Practice the Order has been corrected to read as follows:
“THEREFORE the Board ORDERS that the liquor licence number 805188 issued to CI Vediamo Inc., operating as CI VEDIAMO RISTORANTE, 1910 Queen Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4L 1H7 be SUSPENDED instead for THIRTY (30) days to COMMENCE at 11:00 a.m. on October 27, 2009, and CONTINUE until 2:00 a.m. on October 31, 2009 and RECOMMENCE at 11:00 a.m. on January 2, 2010 and continue until 2:00 a.m. on January 28, 2010.”
No action is required on your part. If you have any questions, please contact me at 416-326-0363.
Sincerely,
Paula Konstantinidis
Manager
Hearings Department
PK/ee