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I am very much impressed with this Muskoka news. In a landmark decision, the Lake Joseph club's liquor licence has been suspended by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission.As I listened to the CBC Radio news report (cynical me!), I thought, 'Yes, perhaps in April - when few are about?'
Spring: March/April is a between season when lake ice is iffy, and towns are quiet. But, no, I am quite surprised that its licence is being suspended during the 'shoulder season' (June 1st) until part of Muskoka's peak season: July 16th.
Now, the restaurant won't be closed, but it will not be serving liquor during this time. Not too much of a tragedy, in my wee mind, since the only transportation access for this spiffy club is from lake or highway.If you recall, the club was charged after the July 3, 2008 tragedy in which Tyler Mulcahy, 20, his girlfriend Nastasia Inez Elzinga, then 19, and friends Kourosh Totonchian, 19, and Cory Mintz, 20, spent part of an afternoon eating and drinking at the Water's Edge restaurant at the Lake Joseph Club in Minette. The four friends were served a total of 31 drinks that fateful afternoon. Quite a bit for 3 young people who had 15 number of traffic violations between them. We know how inhibitions are dulled with alcohol, and the driver had not shown much discretion when sober.
You can see this freewheeling couple on their motorcycle on Peninsula Road, passing us on a solid line, on this winding, typical Lake Joe area road.
The photo shows the memorial at the accident site.
And, as I told a Globe and Mail reporter, Kate Hammer, in an interview on the anniversary of the incident, 'nothing has been learned in the year since we lost three teenaged men in a drinking and unsafe driving incident a year ago, July 3, 2008'.
The problem is that the servers, trained in Smart Serve to withhold alcohol after patrons have had enough, must follow the policies of their managers and club owners. And this is an exclusive club for the privileged and rich. An overnight stay runs around $300/person (2009 rates)It must be club policy to support the servers, often young people trying to earn a living, or paying their way through university. The onus must be on a club: managers and owners, to follow through.
Three servers who worked at the club as well as ClubLink Corporation still face charges of permitting drunkenness. There will be a status hearing on those charges in March.
Muskoka club gets licence pulled in crash
Toronto Star
After the accident, Tim Mulcahy, Tyler's father, purchased a full-page newspaper ad lobbying Premier Dalton McGuinty to implement restrictions for young
7 comments:
The driver of the car was totally irresponsible not only that day but previously leading up to it. He was charged with being drunk in a public place and failing to proceed at a green light. How do you get a ticket like that unless your a real idiot.
There is evidence to suggest the people at the club were told that the patrons had someone picking them up.
The father of the driver gave his son that souped up sports car. The kid did not know how to drive a stick and was racing with people up the highway days before, endangering more peoples lives
People need to stop blaming others for their own actions. You are your own liquor control board
What good news, however in my mind it should be for a longer or permenant period of time...it is not as if this establishment didn't know the law!
Thanks for sharing.
Smiles
I agree, Jed. I do think that all involved were at fault: the driver, the other victims who let him drive, the parents, the club (with their thousands of dollars in membership fees),the licence bureau that did not pull his licence after his previous citations. As the newspapers said, "The 20-year old driver, and his two dead passengers, had a total of 15 traffic violations between them."
If only one of these people/groups had put a stop to it, lives would have been saved.
It is a culture of excess, and drinking, boating and driving that pervades some of our seasonal visitor's mindsets.
I agree completely with you, Jenn! You can't lay all the blame in just one direction, they were all responsible for the tragedy in one way or another. It's called taking responsibility -- something many people would rather push off on someone/something. Have a great weekend! Love your puffy white clouds!
Sylvia
Jenn: Their punishment is justly deserved.
Jenn, have you seen this very moving post??
http://torontoemerg.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/first-trauma/
I hadn't, mog, but I will post a link. She writes some interesting posts from her side of the gurney. I am not sure it will make a difference, however, with 24 deaths and 34 reported Canadian incidents (I won't call them accidents) in the news.
Speed is essential in some of these folks. They see the lakes, frozen or not, as some sort of open Nascar track. This is their perception of the roads. It is the mindset up here for many citiots.
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