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New rules at Kuujjuaq’s Ikkaqivvik Bar

Social workers and police help form action plan to keep the peace at notorious hangout

JANE GEORGE

MONTREAL — The management of Kuujjuaq’s Ikkaqivvik Bar has put a new plan in place to preserve the peace.

The changes are in response to a December hearing of the Quebec Liquor Board in Kuujjuaq, during which chief commissioner Jacques Dufour gave management until Dec. 21 to create a list of solutions to the crime and public drunkenness at the bar.

The board said this action plan, to be developed in collaboration with police and social workers, would be voluntary but official, giving the bar’s administrators and personnel authority to enforce the new rules.

Beginning Jan. 15, patrons at the Ikkaqivvik Bar must be sober when they walk in, and will have to watch their behaviour if they want to stay. And when they leave, they’ll find it harder to take booze outside the premises. Minors will also have to find another place to hang out.

Patrons who don’t toe the line will find themselves out of the bar and added to a blacklist of unwelcome clients.

Bar manager Tony Avramtchev will meet with the Kativik Regional Police Force every week to discuss how the plan is working. If necessary, the bar’s board of directors and the KRPF will also meet monthly. Avramtchev refused to comment.

To stop over-consumption of booze at the bar, the undertaking says the bar will:

• Hire bouncers. A "doorman in uniform" will always be near the bar’s entrance to stop any intoxicated person from entering the bar.

• Escort anyone to a taxi who is refused entry. If someone refuses to comply with the doorman’s request, the manager will settle the dispute.

• Serve patrons only two drinks at a time. Cashiers will also refuse to serve any individual showing evident signs of over-consumption of alcohol.

• Respect the last call. Cashiers should stop serving drinks one hour before closing, giving patrons one hour to finish their drinks and leave the premises.

To control drinking outside the bar, the bar will:

• Install a coat check. All patrons will be required to check their coats. This is intended to cut down on the number of clients who leave the bar with booze under their coats. The coat check will be required in the old section of the bar, but will optional in the new section.

• Install a video camera. The camera will identify people drinking outside the bar. If people are drinking outside, a bouncer will take them to the "territorial limits" of the bar. If they refuse to comply, the manager can ask the police to intervene.

To control the number of young people hanging around the bar, the bar will:

• Have a bouncer escort all minors outside the bar’s limits. If they refuse to comply, the manager can ask police to intervene.

• Notify youth protection authorities. The letter should be sent within 24 hours, informing authorities about "the repetitive and persistent presence" of children under age 14 hanging around the bar, if they can be identified.

• Close access to the space under the bar’s porch and front stairs.

To cut down on fights and violence, the bar will:

• Establish a blacklist. Anyone who commits an assault or fights inside or near the bar should be put on this list for one year. Anyone who utters threats against bar personnel should be put on the list for six months and anyone who attempts to enter the bar with a firearm should be put on for an "indefinite period of time." Police will also be able to add names to the blacklist.

• Make sure the bouncers have the blacklists with them at all times. The bar will also rotate bouncers around the bar during their shifts.

• Have bouncers refuse entry to anyone on the blacklist. Bouncers should notify the manager if the blacklisted patrons persist in entering.

• Connect bouncers with a mobile communication system. This will allow them to quickly get in contact with manager and cashiers.

To keep the bar and its clients more secure, the bar agrees to:

• Have a taxi service available for patrons. Taxis should be available from the opening of the bar to one hour after closing.

• Install an alarm system at the back door. The alarm should prevent clients from using this door.

George Peters, president of the bar’s board of directors, will inform Kuujjuaq residents about the change and make sure the new rules are clearly posted in the bar’s entryway.

KRPF police chief Brian Jones said he is hopeful the plan will help deter crime at the bar.

"It’s very good," Jones said. "We’re well on our way to where we want to go."

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