Decision for Yellowknife pub fighting COVID charge expected Friday morning
CBC
What makes a dance floor?
That was part of closing argument from Yellowknife defence lawyer Jay Bran during the trial for the Monkey Tree Pub owners facing a $5,175 fine under the Public Health Act related to COVID-19 health orders.
The charge stemming from a visit from two liquor inspectors from the Northwest Territories who observed a "crowded bar" and "people dancing" during a routine inspection in November 2020. The observations were reported to territorial public health officers who investigated and issued the fine a month later.
But what really constitutes a dance floor, Bran argued during closing arguments.
"If you are waiting for a beer in line at the bar and there is music … and you start dancing, is that a dance floor," Bran asked the judge.
After a day of testimony from four witnesses called by territorial lawyer Roger Shepard, Judge Bernadette Schmaltz will deliver her decision Friday morning.
It was a routine inspection, the two liquor inspectors said during their respective testimonies.
Manager of liquor enforcement Suzanne Hanna, normally based out of Hay River, N.W.T., was in Yellowknife tagging along with liquor inspector Vibhesh Tripathi on Nov. 14, 2020.
Hanna said the pair checked out other restaurants and pubs before stopping at the Monkey Tree Pub, but once she got to the pub she observed "no masks, no restrictions and shoulder-to-shoulder dancing."
She described the scene as looking "pre-pandemic" and like "a regular Friday night."
Tripathi painted a similar scene during his testimony, saying he saw people dancing and noted his concern with the "crowding" in the pub.
"Personally I think it could have been minimized," he said on the stand.
Cross examination took up a significant amount of time in the morning as the defence lawyer asked Hanna and Tripathi about each specific duty during the liquor inspection, how long each duty took, and what their walking path was from when they entered to when they left.
During Hanna's cross examination, Bran asked if she raised her public health violation concerns with the staff.
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