I am the owner of a building adjacent to the Northern Bar and Stage in downtown Fernie.. Over the course of the last two months, our tenants have had three storefront windows broken by drunken patrons fighting in the street at closing time. The most recent event was Friday, August 27th. The cost to local small businesses is huge, not to mention the broken glass, blood and vomit on the streets (perfect for the Sunday Socials). It’s high time City Council cracks does on this activity. The bar owners should be held responsible for this matter and a fund established to pay for this damage. Although they claim they have no responsibility for what their patrons do after leaving the pub, they are the ones over-serving these people and profiting from the sales. The bar owners should not be allowed to continue to make a good living at the expense of other small businesses in the downtown. The City must either manage this problem through their business licensing and by-law enforcement or eliminate these pubs from the downtown. The RCMP claims they have no capacity to deal with the matter because they are under-staffed. If additional RCMP involvement is necessary, perhaps the bar owners should pay for this as well!
I urge all downtown businesses to contact City Council and demand action be taken.
Bruce Abugov
Fernie Business Owner