Manitoba eyes wine bars, beverage rooms without hotel requirement and more
Manitobans may soon have more places to raise a glass if a bill before the legislature becomes law.
The bill is aimed at simplifying the province's licensing system, with its many categories that require a full kitchen for some operators, entertainment for others and on-site hotel rooms for many.
One proposed change would eliminate the need for beverage rooms -- a type of licence that does not require a full kitchen -- to have hotel rooms on the premises. The current rules require a minimum of four rooms in small communities and 40 in Winnipeg and Brandon.
Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen said he wasn't sure why that requirement was put in place almost a century ago after the end of Prohibition.
"There wasn't a lot of close connection between the serving of alcohol ... and a hotel situation," Goertzen said Tuesday.
"I don't think that the expectation was that ... people needed a place to sleep at night."
The idea was not well received by many hotel owners consulted by the government. They told the provincial regulator -- the Liquor, Cannabis and Gaming Authority of Manitoba -- that they had invested a lot of money to meet the hotel-room requirement, the authority said in a written report on its consultations.
The bill would also let the provincial cabinet set up new categories of licences. That could pave the way for wine bars inside wine stores, Goertzen said. It would also make it easier for temporary summer outdoor bars, called 'pop-ups', to get a licence.
The changes, for the most part, were welcomed by the Manitoba Restaurant and Food Services Association.
The group said competition from new entrants with less overhead could cause some problems, but the overall move to reduce red tape and make it easier to get a licence for modern alcohol distribution is a big plus.
"The problem is, is that these (current) licences really focus on business what it looked like 20, 30 years ago," said Shaun Jeffrey, the association's executive director.
Many restaurants could take advantage of the new flexible system to open temporary outdoor bars in the summer, Jeffrey said.
It's not clear when the bill put forward by the Progressive Conservative government could become law. The legislature is scheduled to break for the summer next week.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 24, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.