Opinion: BC government to hit restaurants while they're already down

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Recently, the BC Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch (LCRB) sent an email to all food primary licence holders, letting restaurant operators know that they are beginning an enforcement blitz targeting establishments “operating outside of license purpose.”

That is government speak for saying they are cracking down on restaurants that are “…operating without a primary focus on the service of food (like a bar or nightclub…).”

On the surface, that seems innocuous, as rules are meant to be enforced. But it is in fact the opposite. What it is, is a power overreach, and a governing body setting out to punish small businesses with an antiquated rulebook.

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It is 2023, and you cannot legally have a drink while standing in an establishment that is not designated as a liquor primary licence. Want to host music, games or other live entertainment without a liquor primary licence? Also not allowed.

The LCRB restricts the business name, and the methods for advertising, and can even audit the financial records of the business.

So logically, you ask, why not just apply for a liquor primary licence? Well, that is a very expensive and laborious process, filled with landmines of rules and restrictions. To the City of Vancouver’s credit, it has recently “attempted” to make the process of converting from a food primary to a liquor primary licence easier, but that’ll cost $40,000 and take 18 months.

This all leaves the cost barrier to entry on opening and operating anything in Vancouver sky-high, with the only somewhat attainable entry point being a food primary licence. It also makes the bar and restaurant industry a game of the haves against the have-nots.

It is not set up to allow independent operators access to the same market as those with money, such as the major chains.

Vibrant cities thrive on nightlife diversity, but the LCRB has structured the rules as such that every establishment has to be put into either a “restaurant” box or a “bar” box, and we live in a much more nuanced world than that.

It also acts as a disservice to our arts community in limiting access to performance spaces.

This severely limits organic innovation and the flexibility needed to survive in the challenging local conditions. And these issues are structural to our city; there were creeping issues before the pandemic, which has only exacerbated the conditions.

Let’s think about all the different ways the restaurant sector had to pivot during the peak of the pandemic, when they had one arm and leg tied behind their backs from the strict indoor dining capacity restrictions and the collapse in the number of customers stepping through their doors. They innovated by opening patios to help offset lost indoor dining capacity, doubled down on online orders and deliveries through platforms such as Uber Eats and Skip The Dishes, and even set up miniature grocery and food store areas for ancillary revenues.

Today, these businesses still have one arm and leg tied behind their backs, but in an entirely different way, with soaring commercial space rents, growing labour costs from both government regulations and the labour shortage, rising prices for bulk goods and services from inflation, the high cost of borrowing due to interest rates, and softened consumer demand from the ever-shrinking pool of disposable household income due to British Columbia’s housing affordability and living cost issues. There is a lack of urgency to acknowledge and proportionally react to the gravity of these headwinds on the provincial and municipal levels.

But to the federal government’s credit, in September 2023, in response to an outcry from small businesses, it decided to extend the repayment deadline for the Canada Emergency Benefit Account (CEBA), which provided 900,000 small businesses and non-profit organizations with up to $60,000 in emergency interest-free loans over the first 12 months of the pandemic.

Earlier this year, small businesses were on edge over the looming CEBA repayment.

The deadline to repay a portion of the loan without any interest and have a portion of the loan forgiven was extended from the end of December 2023 to early 2024. Outstanding loans will also convert to three-year terms with interest, with the repayment date extended to December 2026. Although the deadline extension is welcome interim relief, there are renewed calls for the federal government to issue CEBA loan repayment forgiveness due to continued financial hardship.

Also, much of Vancouver’s arts scene has been forced underground or to special event spaces because we lack small and/or affordable venues with adequate licensing to host their shows.

One of the ironies in this is that the City of Vancouver, just last month, actually relaxed licensing for informal events, without looking at the root cause of why they’ve grown more popular and how they actively take away business from establishments that are willing to host them.

“These changes are a part of this Council’s commitment to supporting our arts and cultural communities,” said Mayor Ken Sim in a statement at the time. “We’re making it easier to organize innovative and exciting events in unconventional spaces and providing new opportunities to host more events for more people. We’re focused on making Vancouver a vibrant and inviting city.”

Such “unconventional” venues — such as warehouses, factories, studios, retail spaces, wholesale spaces, and offices — can now host up to six events at the same location each month, up from the previous limit of three events. The capacity limit can also now exceed 250 attendees, as long as it meets safety regulations, and the bylaws now enable the use of adjoining outdoor spaces on private property to create more usable space for artists and event organizers.

It should be noted that these events in such non-traditional spaces are fun and very necessary — much respect to those in the community organizing them.

This also applies to Vancouver’s incredible pop-up dining scene too. There are some wonderfully talented and creative chefs in this city who cannot meet the barrier to entry by securing a physical space amidst all the headwinds, including self-inflicted government regulations.

This is no longer an “if you save long enough” economy.

No amount of avoiding eating avocado toast is going to get you there if you have to pay exorbitant rent on a space while awaiting a licence.

If you’re looking for a reason why the “No Fun City” moniker continues to stick on to Vancouver, the problem lies squarely at the feet of the provincial and municipal governments. Bar and restaurant operators are forced to find success in spite of them.

Rather than take a look at swiftly changing outdated licensing rules, which explicitly work to the industry’s detriment, the government has set out — in the midst of an onslaught of closures — to do further damage.

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