Toronto nightclub owner argues for later last calls for alcohol

TORONTO Partying into the wee hours of the morning at a favourite watering hole is a tradition generally reserved for New Year’s Eve and other very special occasions.

Some night owls like Spencer Sutherland would like to be able to do that all year round, and he’s leading a charge to push last call in Toronto well past 2 a.m.

The music venue owner notes the City of Toronto has the authority to change hours of alcohol service when it deems appropriate, although it’s only done that twice — both for sporting events and both to extend hours earlier in the morning, not later.

Sutherland said Toronto can push last call to 4 a.m. if it really wants to, arguing that a 2 a.m. limit does nothing to further notions of Toronto as a world-class city with a world-class nightlife.

“Two is too early. Certainly compared to many other major cities in the world,” said Sutherland, who runs Nocturne Nightclub and is director of the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas.

Canada’s most populous city does get to party late fairly regularly — the province allows select establishments to close at 4 a.m. during special events.

Ontario does allow liquor sales until 3 a.m. on New Year’s Eve.

There could be some economic benefit to longer hours, said Geoff Wilson, a consultant to the hospitality industry who notes that today’s youth tend to go out later in the evening.

“They’re having a pre-party before they go out because it’s cheaper to purchase their own alcohol and have a few drinks at home .... They’re not getting out until 10:30, 11 o’clock. The clubs really don’t get busy until those time periods. Extending last call means that the operator has an opportunity to leverage more sales.”

Still, businesses need to determine at what point their alcohol sales start declining and people just start nursing their drink. Then there’s the cost of increased labour, heat and utilities.

Of course, many residents near bars and restaurants see little benefit to extended drinking hours, routinely warning of increased noise, crime and chaos. Longer drinking hours do seem to lead to more problems, agreed Andrew Murie, CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving in Canada.

Relaxed bar hours would demand more liquor inspections, security, policing, emergency services and transit, he said.

“They can’t do that resourcing 12 months out of the year.”