Quinte West Council is not changing local policy about alcohol in public spaces, despite a provincial law update.
During Wednesday’s meeting of council, one of the items that was discussed was the policy for alcoholic beverages at outdoor municipal events.
Recent changes to provincial law will allow the municipality to permit people to drink their own alcohol that they bring with them to public events. Currently that’s not allowed under events policy, with permits to serve alcohol only covering beverages sold by the event itself. The report presented to council raised some concerns with allowing self serve, including higher risk of intoxication and impaired driving, along with potentially increased insurance costs for events.
The report on the provincial law change prompted some debate, with councillor Michael Kotsovos advocating against changing the current rules.
“The reality is that people between the ages of 19 and 29 are drinking far less than past generations, resulting in a decline in alcohol sales,” said councillor Kotsovos. “It seems the provincial government is compensating for this trend and therefore constantly trying to make alcohol more accessible.”
After a brief discussion, council accepted the report for information, but did not propose any changes to local policy.
