The Quebec Liquor Board Has Crushed Montreal’s Dream of 6 AM Bar Closures

Photo via Flickr user benhusmann.
It looks like Montreal—the city that made a fortune as the destination for thirsty Americans during the prohibition and had one of the last functioning Red Light districts in North America during WWII—has had a major setback in its bid for most debauched city on the continent. The dream of 6 AM bar closures has been crushed, for now.

For those of you unfamiliar that this was even in the works, it was announced in March that Mayor Denis Coderre was considering a month-long pilot project for certain bars to stay open until 6 AM, closing their terraces at 3 AM and having last call at 5:30 AM. This plan was to go into effect tonight, June 12, and be in effect every Thursday, Friday and Saturday until July 5. What was less publicized, was that there would be a hearing in June so that the Quebec Liquor Board could decide whether to accept or reject the proposal. Well, as it turns out, the proposal was rejected yesterday afternoon.

In the 38-page document, the liquor board concluded that a 6 AM closing would “work against public interest” and “could harm public tranquility.” The board also noted that a plan like this needs more time and thought stating, “A project such as this merits taking the time to reflect and to document its feasibility in light of similar experiences elsewhere in the world."

They condemned the project, stating that public safety took a backseat to profit, adding that while last call would change, the rest of the city would be “business as usual” concerning “transportation, security, control and prevention.”

Although police officer Gilles Bouchard of the Service de police de la Ville de Montreal (SPVM) tried to reassure the liquor board that the police would monitor the areas, the liquor board was clearly not impressed. They stated that they were “not reassured by the answers to the questions on the SPVM’s vision of this project.”

In the end, the board explained that the concept wasn’t bad; it was just in need of public debate and a proposition that is “serious, thought-out and well-documented.”

This came as a shock to Mayor Coderre, the bar owners and excited, booze-loving partygoers alike. While groups opposing the project, such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), were surprised and pleased by the verdict.

Bar owners included in the project have already lost money. They had already paid their non-refundable $260 permit, sold by the city, according to the Montreal Gazette.

Coderre took to Twitter not long after the decision, tweeting that “the goal of the project was to document the experience and share it with the population” and that it was “a missed opportunity for Montreal. Security was provided (SPVM) and Educ'alcool agreed with the experience.”

The question at hand is, was it really a missed opportunity for Montreal? The liquor board accused the project of being sloppy, lacking the time needed to prepare a real plan. That’s probably true. On March 6, CBC wrote an article claiming “Coderre says he wants bars to stay open until at least 6 AM, and he's considering a pilot project to try it out.” By April 25, it was announced that the bars would open. That’s less than two months, an unlikely amount of time to have everything planned properly.

The liquor board then explained that Coderre didn’t take the time to consider bar schedules around the world—what works for one city doesn’t necessarily work for another. With that said, there are countries in Europe where bars are open 24 hours a day. In New York City, some bars stay open until 5 AM regularly.

Would the pilot project have worked against public interest or harmed public tranquility? Probably. There were two opposing views when the pilot project was merely an idea. 1. A 6 AM closing time would allow a more staggered, and therefore tranquil exodus of people from bars instead of barfing everyone out at 3 AM and 2. People will use that time to get even more trashed and then increasing the incidences of drunk driving. The truth is that both of these outcomes would have occurred. Some people would pace themselves instead of rushing to drink before last call, while others would have continued drinking until the extended last call. The problem with the latter is that by 6 AM, as expressed by MADD, people are on their way to work and/or bringing their kids to school or daycare. Couple that with people irresponsibly driving home after a 5:30 round of Jagerbombs and it sounds like a recipe for disaster far beyond the normal tragic scene of girls in stilettos holding their friend’s hair up while they blorf behind a dumpster as their meathead boyfriends punch each other on the corner.

The liquor board then criticized the police, stating that they didn’t seem prepared to take on the extra work (although maybe it would have given them the perfect chance to try their shiny new sound cannon on a bunch of Bostonian meatheads causing a ruckus on Crescent street at 6:15 AM) and the Montreal Gazette further cited concerns of increased gang activity in the bars after others close at 3 AM, as well as noise complaints from residents and business in the area, like hotels.

Ultimately, Montreal will never know if this is a good idea or a horrible idea until they give it a shot. Sure, there was a chance that downtown Montreal could have been a liquor-fueled apocalyptic nightmare for a month, but there would have been a time limit and we could have learned what works and what doesn’t. In the end, a month-long trial run is just that: a trial run. It could’ve easily been shut down early if the project became problematic.

More importantly, however, there’s a chance that this could have worked. Which means more revenue for a city that sorely needs it, and a solidification of Montreal as a destination for people seeking some of that European joie-de-vivre. Now it could take years before we see something like this back on the table, if at all.

Either way, we’ll never know how Coderre’s pilot project would’ve turned out but we do know this; it would’ve been fun to watch.