Quebec's alcohol board said the City of Montreal's pilot project to keep bars open longer lacked planning.
Photo Credit: Canadian Press

Pilot project to close Montreal bars later nixed

Montreal is considered to be a party town, but there are limits and they will remain.

The government agency that controls the sale of alcohol in the province of Quebec has vetoed a plan by the mayor of Montreal to try out a later closing time for bars. As it is, bars in that city close at 3am, later than those in at least five other provinces in Canada. Each province controls its own liquor laws.

The pilot project would have allowed 19 Montreal bars to stay open until 6am with last call for drinks half an hour earlier for four weekends starting June11. The mayor said he hoped it would boost the economy.

People divided on later closing time

Citizens were worried about drunks coming out of bars, making noise and imperilling people and children out early in the morning. Bar owners were divided on whether later closing times were good for business or not.

Ultimately the government agency refused to issue the necessary permits saying the city had not studied the plan well enough and that it should have looked at closing times in other countries. It said it was not convinced police were fully in favour of the project and that the trial could have harmed public tranquility.

Montreal’s mayor expressed his disappointment on Twitter.

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