Metro Vancouver pubs prepare for muted St. Patrick’s Day celebrations

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – St. Patrick’s Day is the latest celebration to be dampened by COVID-19, with provincial orders forcing liquor sales to end early.

Establishments and stores cannot sell liquor past 8 p.m. on Wednesday as part of the health restriction, aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus.

Some pub owners say the move to cut sales will hurt businesses — even if it’s only a couple of hours difference.

“For two hours it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, to be truthfully honest,” said Randy Nohr with Dublin Crossing in Vancouver, adding the current 10 p.m. cut off would have sufficed. “I mean everybody’s closing already early, all that we’re seeing is we’re seeing an increase of people buying stuff from liquor stores.”

While many may not be thrilled about the change in serving time, they aren’t surprised by the province’s move.

“It is the single largest day for gatherings in a normal year, so it was expected that it would be clamped down on,” explained Rylie Ableman at St. James’s Well in Port Moody.

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He’s also happy restrictions were announced earlier than they were last year.

“The city of Vancouver had already shut everything down. The rest of the areas had not. And then they came down during the day on St. Paddy’s Day that all liquor-primary establishments were to shut their doors by five o’clock,” Ableman recalled.

Early liquor sale cutoffs for New Year’s Eve were also announced at the 11th hour, with orders only being unveiled the afternoon before Dec. 31. That resulted in a number of cancellations and lost revenue for restaurants, bars, and pubs, which had already planned menus with food and liquor weeks in advance.

The early cutoff times also created what a location-based digital advertising and security company called a “COVID Crunch“: more people packed into liquor stores in the final hours of the shopping day, creating congestion and overcrowding in some cases.

While many people may be planning to spend the day at home, Nohr asks those of you heading out to understand the rules and not take out your frustrations on staff.

“We’ve definitely had a lot more staff break down and be upset with having to deal with that as an extra added level of pressure,” he told NEWS 1130.

VPD to patrol

Meanwhile, the Vancouver Police Department plans to treat this St. Patrick’s Day like any Friday or Saturday night, with extra officers deployed mainly in the entertainment district.

“Dealing with disorder, the extra volume of people we might expect out on the streets, as well as dealing with any complaints that come in about unlawful gatherings inside private residences,” Sgt. Steve Addison said.

While he doesn’t expect to see the usual crowds that would gather any other year, Addison is reminding people of the public health orders against large gatherings.

“We expect that there will be some extra people out on the town tonight, but we’re reminding those people that there are health orders in place, liquor sales do stop early, and we’re encouraging people to arrange a ride home and plan to get home early,” Addison added.

As part of public health orders, British Columbians are reminded that masks are required in all indoor public spaces, including at bars and restaurants when a person is not seated at a table.

The provincial health officer did recently relax the rules around gatherings outside. However, strict restrictions remain in place for indoor gatherings.

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