Licence Appeal Tribunal
Safety, Licensing Appeals and Standards Tribunals Ontario
Tribunal d’appel en matière de permis Tribunaux de la sécurité, des appels en matière de permis et des normes Ontario
Date: 2018-01-22
Appeal from a Notice of Proposal of the Registrar of Alcohol, Gaming and Racing under the Liquor Licence Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L. 19 – to Suspend a Licence
Between:
Panzarotini Group Inc. o/a Old School Bar & Grill Appellant
-and-
Registrar of Alcohol, Gaming and Racing Respondent
ORDER AND NOTICE OF INTENT TO DISMISS
Adjudicator: Mary Ann Spencer, Member
Appearances:
For the Appellant: No one appeared For the Respondent: Aviva Harari, Counsel
Place and date of hearing:
Toronto, Ontario January 16, 2018
ORDER
OVERVIEW
1This is a hearing before the Licence Appeal Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) arising out of a Notice of Proposal issued by the Registrar of Alcohol, Gaming and Racing on January 16, 2017. The Notice proposes to suspend the liquor licence of Panzarotini Group Inc. o/a Old School Bar & Grill (the “appellant”) for 30 days.
2The hearing in this matter was scheduled to take place on January 16, 2018 at the Tribunal’s hearing rooms located at 20 Dundas Street West, Suite 530, Toronto. At 9:30 a.m., the time scheduled for the commencement of the hearing, no one appeared on behalf of the appellant. The hearing was delayed for thirty minutes and staff attempted to contact the appellant’s counsel, Joseph W. Irving, without success.
3Tribunal staff advised me that they had learned of a service disruption on the Toronto Transit Commission. With the consent of counsel for the respondent, I delayed the hearing a further thirty minutes. Staff made further unsuccessful attempts to contact the appellant’s counsel.
4The hearing in this matter was originally scheduled to take place on July 26, 2017. At the outset of that hearing, Brian Mitchell, acting as agent for the appellant, advised that Mr. Irving had inadvertently recorded an incorrect date for the hearing and had only discovered the error on July 25, 2017. Due to a conflict, Mr. Irving was unable to attend. Mr. Mitchell therefore requested that the hearing be adjourned. I approved the adjournment and, with the consent of the parties, the hearing was rescheduled to take place on January 16, 2018. The Tribunal’s Order setting out the new hearing date was released on July 31, 2017.
5Rule 3.4(d) of the Tribunal’s Rules of Practice provides that the Tribunal may dismiss an appeal without a hearing when a party has abandoned the proceeding. There is no indication that either a representative of the appellant or its counsel attempted to contact the Tribunal to advise of his/her unavailability for the scheduled hearing. Therefore, I find that this appeal should be treated as abandoned and I intend to dismiss the appeal unless sufficient reason is provided by the appellant as to why the appeal should not be dismissed.
ORDER
6Pursuant to the Statutory Powers Procedure Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. S 22, and to Rule 3.5 of the Tribunal’s Rules of Practice, Version 1 (April 1, 2016) the Tribunal hereby gives notice to the appellant it intends to dismiss this proceeding without a hearing unless, within the time frame specified below, the appellant provides sufficient reason why the proceeding should not be dismissed.
7The appellant may, within ten (10) days of the release date of this Order, provide written submissions to the Tribunal as to why the appeal should not be dismissed without a hearing, including an explanation of the failure of the appellant to attend at the scheduled hearing.
8The respondent may, within seven (7) days from the receipt of the appellant’s submissions, make responding submissions.
9The Tribunal will consider the submissions of the parties and make a decision on whether to dismiss the appeal without a hearing due to the appellant having abandoned the proceeding.
10If the appellant fails to provide sufficient reasons why the appeal should not be dismissed as abandoned, the Tribunal shall issue a final Order dismissing the appeal.
LICENCE APPEAL TRIBUNAL
Mary Ann Spencer
Released: January 22, 2018
Information about the Tribunal’s processes, including its Rules of Practice and Procedure, is available at www.lat.gov.on.ca.
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