Recent changes to liquor laws in BC in response to a government report have drawn mixed reactions, particularly with regard to the clause that allows establishments to change liquor prices during the day for happy hour, as well as minimum pricing on beer.

The changes, with the most recent having been rolled out June 21, include allowing minors inside pubs — provided the pub is properly certified, and they are accompanied by an adult — as well as allowing restaurants to serve alcohol to customers who have not ordered food.

Most notable of these changes, though, is that licensed establishments are now allowed to change the price of alcoholic beverages throughout the day, allowing them to have happy hours, during which drink prices are lowered at a certain time of day. Although liquor prices were previously permitted to change by the day — hence, daily drink specials — changing the price of an alcoholic beverage during the day was illegal. 

“If [a restaurant] lowered prices, [they] actually had to keep prices down for the entire day,” explained Ian Tostenson, the president of the BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association (BCFRA). “It gives the business owner some flexibility.”

Happy hour deals could attract customers looking for cheaper drinks and potentially be placed during typically slower hours. “I think it will be great for tourists to come into Vancouver, and they come from a culture of happy hours. I think it will help increase and make business for us,” Tostenson stated.

However, not everyone is pleased with the recent changes. Along with new rules allowing happy hours came laws forcing a minimum price for happy hours, including a minimum pricing of $0.25 per oz of beer; this would place a 60 oz pitcher of beer at $15, a price higher than what can be found at many places currently selling pitchers. This has caused some pub owners to balk as they will have to raise prices.

Adam Chatburn, president of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), stated that although he is “happy to see things like the happy hour, [. . .] the execution leaves quite a bit to be desired, particularly [that] the minimum pricing is too high.”

He added that he was actually in favour of a minimum price but that $0.25 per oz is too high, much higher, in fact, than other provinces such as Alberta where it is set at $0.16: “We expected them to pick a minimum price that was a lot closer to what we did in the rest of Canada, rather than government mandated beer that is the most expensive in the country.”

John Flipse, general manager of the SFSS Food & Beverage Services, who runs the Highland Pub, does not foresee these laws having much of an impact on the Highland. He stated that the new rules are “confusing,” as the minimum pricing only applies to happy hour specials.

“We charge less than $15 regularly for our [60 oz] jugs of beer, but that’s alright because it’s our regular price.” He explained, “This has created a lot of confusion, it’s like, ‘Oh man, prices of jugs are going to go up everywhere in the country,’ [but] that’s not necessarily true.”

Flipse speculated some of the uproar may be an excuse for pub owners to raise prices and blame the new liquor laws. “That might be a strategic move by some people to raise their pitchers to $15: ‘It’s not me, it’s the government.’”

He also mentioned that the law that would permit minors in a pub does not necessarily mean that the pub can just let in people under 19; there must be approval, and the minor would probably need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian, which makes minors being allowed at the Highland unlikely.

For now, you can still buy a pitcher for under $15, and you will still have to be 19 to sit in the Highland Pub. Sorry, kiddos.