Last Call for Cheap Alcohol in Alberta

The 25 cent draft and $1 hi-balls that are so ubiquitous in the lives of many 18 and 19 year-old Albertans will soon be a thing of the past. This morning the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission announced new rules that will put the kibosh on selling liquor for less than $2.75 and a pint of beer for less than $3.20. In addition, bars will be unable to sell discounted drinks after 8:00 pm. These rules kick in August 1st and were created with the sole intention of curbing the alcohol-fueled violence so commonly found at about 2:00am on Whyte Ave in Edmonton and 17th ave in Calgary (and other nightlife hot spots around the province).

I for one am all about eliminating this kind of drunk debauchery. Being young and social I certainly enjoy patronizing many pubs and clubs in the Edmonton area, but it's increasingly painful to see what Jasper Ave. and Whyte Ave. are turning into. Admittedly these areas have always been rowdy, but in the last few years it seems they have taken on a surly and even dangerous character. I'm sick of having my ass grabbed by complete strangers when waiting at a crosswalk, side-stepping piles of vomit on the sidewalk, having to avoid the fisticuffs that spill out of bars, or seeing some random rig-pig pissing on the boulevard.

This kind of behavior occurs to varying degrees all over this country, but after having partied in many, many Canadian cities, I must say Alberta is particularly bad. So what is it that makes Edmonton and Calgary so much worse than Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver or Ottawa? It's a problem of geographic space and culture. Blogger and writer, Amy Fung suggests that

Edmonton is a transient stop, the "big" city with over half a dozen satellite cities and counties, whose young and restless blow into town with the sole purpose of getting absolutely trashed on their big night out. Concentrated, destructive, they disperse again leaving downtown and Strathcona sticky and stained. Of course residents frequent these areas too on the weekend, but the overwhelming majority are not. Edmonton is shedding its 'big city with a small town mentality' image with a much more dismal notion of being a small town with big city problems.

I would say this boomtown logic applies to Calgary as well. But it's not just geography that contributes to this kind of environment. It's culture, or a lack there of. Compared to other cities in this country, there is relatively little to do for people looking to have a good time on a Saturday night (especially during the winter months). So instead, young people flock to the bar, the pub, the club or the tavern to spend their (in many cases) lucrative wages and consort with others. The organizer of the Sled Island music festival puts it well in his lament about the state of Calgary's cultural scene:

Money is there by the bucket load - but where is it going? How different would Calgary look if we focused on educating ourselves and attracting bright minds to our city? Would the epicenter of our greatest civic celebration still consist of drunk millionaires renting cocaine dusted barbie dolls at an outhouse smelling parking lot behind a downtown theme-bar?

It's a powerful image, and sadly, it's not far off the mark. Thus, while I applaud the Alberta government's attempt to curb the drunken debauchery and general shadyness that is the hallmark of a night out in Alberta's urban centres, I don't think increasing the price of alcoholic beverages is going to make much of a difference. When there is little to do on a Saturday night, Alberta's large number of restless young people will still get drunk, even if there hi-ball costs $2.75 instead of a loonie.

Comments

[Aaron]

And so, they'll just pre-drink more, come to the bar later, and everyone's still exiting the bar at 2 am, looking for a cab.

Scrap the closing times, cordon off whyte ave as a pedestrian-only zone, and let people carry their booze around in non-glass containers, like they do in New Orleans, Vegas, etc.

[Trevor]

I have yet to see what this will do to solve any "alcohol fueled violence" at all. As Aaron says, people will just pre-drink at home then hit the bar later. As for the 2 drink limit at 1am, people will just go to the bar, order two, put them down, and go back.

The only think this cuts down on is dollar drink specials. But since highballs are in the $4.25+ range at most bars anyways, I can see a $2.75 drink special being just as successful. On the other hand, it screws the poor sucker that likes to stop at his local pub to have a brew after work. It won't let him do that for a reasonable price anymore, i.e. Happy Hour.

Why spend money to create more convoluted rules instead of just raising the drinking age and adding, pedestrian only centers (again, agreeing with Aaron).

[Calgary Grit]

Typical Conservatives - choosing regulation and telling people how to live their lives instead of the free market solution...

[Jewel]

Drinks for a dollar?! Out of everything said here, that's the most shocking to me. Wow..

Like others have said, I don't think it's going to solve the problem but it's a start. I've never partied in these cities but from what you've said, SOMETHING needs to happen.

A DOLLAR?! Woah...

[Fort Redneck]

How about this for a theory - with each generation there's a growing disrespect for each other, other's property and society in general. Blame it on the small town rubes that invade your city every weekend? Right. Lack of culture in Alberta? I assume these things don't happen in the cultural meccas of Vancouver and Toronto then. Ya, the PC's can't do anything right so maybe you could show me a party that can legislate a parent to do a responsible job of raising a child. They'd have my vote.