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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A one-day suspension of a liquor licence means the After 8 Neighbourhood Billiard Room won't be opening its doors on Saturday, May 23.

The decision was made after a hearing was held by the NWT Liquor Licencing Board on April 27.

The After 8 Neighbourhood Billiard Room will be shutting its doors on May 23 for a one-day liquor licence suspension. - Kassina Ryder/NNSL photo

At the hearing, liquor inspector Darrel Ouellette said at about 1:20 a.m. on Jan. 10, he and an RCMP officer entered After 8 and asked two young men for identification. The men said they did not have identification with them. The RCMP officer checked their names and addresses with the RCMP detachment and found that both men were 18 years old. Both men then admitted they were underage.

Bartender Luke Quinlan said originally, one of the men was with a woman and he had served them beer while they were playing pool. The other man entered the bar without his knowledge and joined the other two. Dubbing the three individuals "Jack and Jill and Bill," Quinlan explained he had asked "Jack and Jill" for identification a few weeks before and so did not ID them when they came into the bar on Jan. 10.

When "Bill" arrived, Quinlan said he was busy serving another customer, but noticed the man looked young and planned to ask him for identification as soon as he was finished the transaction with the other customer. He said "Bill" could only have been inside the bar for a few minutes before he noticed him, as the bar was not busy that evening.

Quinlan said Ouellette entered the bar and "beat him to the punch" by asking the man for identification before he had the chance, and said he did not actually serve "Bill" any alcohol.

Enforcement counsel Brian Asmundson said both men should have been asked for identification. Also, After 8 does not have a door person checking for ID. He also made reference to three prior violations of the Liquor Act by After 8. The last was in 2004 when the bar lost its licence for seven days for allowing drunkenness on the premises.

Licensee Patricia Dartnell said Quinlan had every intention of asking for identification, but Ouellette got there first.

She also said a door person doesn't make sense for a bar the size of After 8.

"Sometimes we're busy, but most of the time one person can run that place," she said. "Having a door person on a regular basis is not economically viable."

After deliberating, liquor board chair Don Kindt said board members ruled the bar was in violation of the NWT Liquor Act, selling alcohol to a minor.

The bar will be closed between 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 23 until 10 a.m. on Sunday May 24, and Dartnell will have to pay a $500 fine.