SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A mixed martial arts fight promoter has cancelled an event this weekend expected to draw 800 spectators because the NWT Liquor Licensing Board has denied a liquor licence for a beer garden at the event.

Past mixed martial arts fights in Yellowknife, like this one in 2012, have gone off virtually without a hitch. But the promoter cancelled the event scheduled for Saturday night after an application for a liquor licence was denied by the NWT Liquor Licensing Board. - NNSL file photo

Promoter John Stanley said he decided to call off the "Northern Invasion" event rather than hold it without a liquor licence.

The fight card was to have been staged at the Yellowknife Community Arena on Saturday night. John Stanley, owner of Just Fitness, is the main promoter.

"I'm out 15 to 20 grand as it is, I might have lost more if I tried to go ahead with it," Stanley said.

The beer garden at the fight was to have been run by the NWT SPCA with proceeds going toward the charitable group.

In the decision by the board, a copy of which was obtained by Yellowknifer, chairman Colin Baile stated the application was incomplete. Rules for events with more than 500 attendees require applications to be submitted 45 days in advance, which it was not, he stated.

Organizers of the event also initially advertised the sale of liquor on its posters, which is another violation of the regulations, Baile stated. The liquor licensing board must consider the public interest and public safety above all else, he stated in the decision. In administering the entrusted sections of the NWT Liquor Act and accompanying liquor regulations, the board is bound by the law in its consideration of the public interest, Baile stated. This duty cannot be altered by the perceived consequences of their decisions, he added.

"The application for the permit was submitted by the SPCA about a week late," Stanley said. "It was initially denied and we immediately addressed the board's concerns, including the advertising of a beer garden on the posters. We took the posters down. We changed the advertising in the newspaper. I know that the SPCA did everything they had to do in refiling the application."

According to the board's decision, an incomplete application was received on April 28. The board rejected it on May 5 and then on Monday denied a request to reconsider its ruling.

"Now they've added reasons that don't even fall within the regulations," Stanley said. "Now they are talking about the shortage of RCMP officers on the long weekend.

"We already had police officers who are members of the gym who said they were already scheduled to work overtime. They were going to be working the event, on site, the entire time that the event was taking place. We're putting our money at risk. But this is government red tape, procedural abuse. When we make a mistake, are we not given an opportunity to correct it?"

SPCA president Nicole Spencer said her organization could be out as much as $5,000 because of the event's cancellation.

"That's how much we made running the beer garden at the same event two years ago," she said. "Dogs, cats and other animals at our shelter will literally suffer because of this decision, not to mention the fighters who have been training for months for this."

In an e-mail, Range Lake MLA Daryl Dolynny expressed his outrage over the decision.

"Blocking this event's full potential and possibly bankrupting this promoter to prop up a ridiculous portraying of bureaucratic red tape will only solidify the belief this government received an 'F' in this area. Local business owners put up $25,000 of their money ... This is all being jeopardized due to unnecessary red tape."

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