Inuit centre to appeal ruling on bar

Régie should rescind licence because owner targeting sick clients: director

Maggie Putulik rolled her eyes and shook her head when she first learned that Achilles Vriniotis planned to open a bar near the Ullivik Centre, a Dorval lodging facility for Inuit receiving health care in Montreal.

“I knew immediately what his intention was,” said Putulik, the Ullivik Centre’s director.

“The owner of Archies Bar is obviously targeting our clients because there’s guaranteed profit to be made,” she said. “Our clients are here for medical reasons. They’re here to get better, they’re not here to get more sick.”

The Ullivik Centre will contest a decision by the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux that gave an alcohol permit to Resto Bar Archies. The bar is in the basement of a hotel, 600 metres down the road from the Ullivik Centre.

At stake for the centre: the health and safety of the Inuit who stay there, Putulik said.

“It’s going to increase alcohol consumption at the centre,” Putulik said.

At night, eighteen-wheelers drive down dark Michel Jasmin Ave., where the bar is located, Putulik said. The Ullivik Centre has already seen “serious injuries related to being hit on the highway,” she said.

Other businesses sell alcohol close to the Ullivik Centre: an Italian restaurant, a gas station and multiple bars — as the Régie noted in its July 27 decision to give Archies the permit.

But Putulik is concerned about Archies in particular because Vriniotis owns GA Deli, another bar close to the Atwater métro station and a four-minute walk from the Ullivik Centre’s former location.

She says she heard a story from clients: when Vriniotis learned the centre was moving to Dorval, he said he wanted to move close to the new location.

“I believe he was already planning well in advance of following our clients to this new area here,” Putulik said.

Putulik submitted screenshots of an Archies Resto Bar Facebook page to the Régie. In the screenshots, the bar’s page says “All Inuit welcome.” The screenshots also show the bar shared a post saying “Opening Soon” in a Facebook group called Montreal Inuit Information.

“I’m opening a restaurant with a liquor permit in a hotel to cater to the guests of the hotel,” Vriniotis told the Montreal Gazette.

Archies is not yet open for business, but plans to start serving soon, Vriniotis said.

The Ullivik Centre, the city of Dorval and the Montreal police all told the Régie that they opposed an alcohol permit for Archies. Together, they presented the Régie with “a range of health, safety and social issues” and “highlighted particular service needs in the context of Inuit culture as well as the complexities of Inuit history,” an Ullivik Centre statement said.

The centre documents more than 1,000 intoxication-related incidents each year.

“These are symptoms from generations ago: the residential schools, the dog slaughtering, being forced to become communities rather than living a nomadic way of life,” Putulik said. “It’s essential that our southern neighbours understand the challenges that are faced by the Inuit today,” she added.

In its decision, the Régie said it would be unfair to deny Vriniotis a permit, given the bar’s proximity to other places that sell alcohol.

“An inveterate consumer of alcoholic beverages will always find a way to satisfy his dependence,” the decision read.

The Régie ordered Vriniotis not to advertise directly to Inuit clientele.

“I question the Régie: Why? Under all the circumstances and the evidence ... why they went ahead and issued a permit?” Putulik said.

The Tribunal administratif du Québec will hear the Ullivik Centre’s appeal in about six months, she said.