SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
"A bunch of B.S." That's how the promoter of Saturday's cancelled mixed martial arts event describes part of the NWT liquor board's decision to deny the event a liquor licence.
An organizer of mixed martial arts events, such as this one in 2012, denies there have been "numerous altercations" among patrons as stated by the NWT liquor board in rejecting a liquor permit application for a fight event that was supposed to take place this weekend. - NNSL file photo |
John Stanley said the board has "100 per cent fabricated" the notion that there have been fights among patrons at past events.
"We had one minor altercation at the last event (in 2013) where two guys were rolling around on the floor at the end of the night in the beer garden," he said.
"Our security dealt with it. It was minor and the police were never called. That's the only altercation outside the cage that we've had in years of MMA fights in Yellowknife."
In its decision released this week, liquor board chair Colin Baile stated the event in question is considered by the board as "a high-risk event from the perspective of liquor enforcement and policing."
Similar events in the past have seen numerous physical altercations among patrons, he stated.
"It's just not true," Stanley said. "We've never even had the RCMP at previous fights. We didn't need them. We used our own security."
City councillor Niels Konge said he has attended several of the previous MMA events in the city.
"I've never seen any fights in the stands and I've never seen any serious problems." Konge said.
Grant White, the city's director of community services, who also serves on the city's combative sports commission, said he has never seen any fights among patrons at the six or seven previous MMA events he attended.
"I only really recall an altercation after or during one of these things," he said.
"We were doing our commission stuff and I saw a bit of a scuffle and security took care of it."
Yellowknifer asked RCMP if officers had been called to previous MMA events but they did not respond by press time.
Finance Minister Michael Miltenberger, who oversees the liquor licensing board, is standing by the board and its decision to deny the liquor permit, including backing the board on the policing and rowdy fans angle.
"The police were not able to give a clear and definitive answer on whether there would be adequate police protection if they were needed," Miltenberger said.
"In previous ones, I understand there was a fair amount of altercations that required controlling and dealing with."
The liquor board has essentially said because the liquor application came in late, it is not satisfied that appropriate policing could be provided on such short notice.
Miltenberger said he has stepped up to answer questions about the liquor board decision "because the quasi-judicial board did its job and like a judge, it should not now have to appear in front of the media to defend its decision. There has been political blowback in some quarters so I'm here as the minister, as an elected official, to speak on this issue," Miltenberger said.
Even if he had wanted to step in and try to change the board's decision, he is, by law, not allowed to, he said.
"The last time the liquor act was done, a protection was built in because the previous liquor act was open to political involvement and it caused all kinds of aggravation where policy decisions would get overridden because of the heat of moment and political pressure," he said. "Now there is no room for political override."
The event will now be held on either June 13 or June 20, according to Stanley.
"We're cutting the attendance down to 500 from the original 800 so that we can fit within the two week period (to apply for a liquor licence)," he said.
The original liquor application was filed by the NWT SPCA which was going to run the beverage services.
"The SPCA will still run the beer garden but we (the promoters) filed the actual application this time. We expect to split the beer garden profits 50/50 with them," Stanley said.
Yellowknifer and Canarctic Graphics are one of the main sponsors of the event.
