[llama66]

N_Fiddledog N_Fiddledog:

A Shisha lounge is a hookah hangout isn't it? I imagine it's getting all that police scrutiny for a reason.

Not buying the racism claim.

Filthy Hookahs.

[DrCaleb]

Funny though, how cigar bars in the area don't seem to garner the same kind of attention from police. I'm sure it's not racism, or something.

[DrCaleb]

Oh, look!

$1:

His shisha lounge closed, Edmonton man says he's still a target

An Edmonton man who fought with the city for years before closing his beleaguered shisha lounge says authorities continue to target him by imposing unreasonable restrictions that drove away a tenant.

Though a city committee ruled in February that Nyala Lounge did not pose a risk to the public, Moe Tesfay recently closed the business — a popular venue among African community members — and leased the space.

But his new tenant, a chef from Calgary, has backed out after being told he must display signs barring people wearing gang symbols and colours in order to acquire a liquor licence.

"External and internal signage shall be posted at each entrance to the licensed premises advising that gang members, their associates or any person wearing gang colours or symbols are prohibited from entering the premises," the Alberta Gaming Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) wrote to Arat Kilo Restaurant and Bar on April 5.

Tesfay said he gave the new tenant an option to back out of the lease if he encountered difficulties with authorities.

That tenant now plans to leave at the end of the month.

. . .


Contacted by CBC News, the AGLC would not elaborate on what it considers to be gang colours or symbols. The agency refused to answer questions or disclose how many other Edmonton bars are required to post such signs.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton ... -1.5166818

[stratos]

IN other news the Denny's near me is closed for health violations.

[PublicAnimalNo9]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Oh, look!

$1:

His shisha lounge closed, Edmonton man says he's still a target

An Edmonton man who fought with the city for years before closing his beleaguered shisha lounge says authorities continue to target him by imposing unreasonable restrictions that drove away a tenant.

Though a city committee ruled in February that Nyala Lounge did not pose a risk to the public, Moe Tesfay recently closed the business — a popular venue among African community members — and leased the space.

But his new tenant, a chef from Calgary, has backed out after being told he must display signs barring people wearing gang symbols and colours in order to acquire a liquor licence.

"External and internal signage shall be posted at each entrance to the licensed premises advising that gang members, their associates or any person wearing gang colours or symbols are prohibited from entering the premises," the Alberta Gaming Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) wrote to Arat Kilo Restaurant and Bar on April 5.

Tesfay said he gave the new tenant an option to back out of the lease if he encountered difficulties with authorities.

That tenant now plans to leave at the end of the month.

. . .


Contacted by CBC News, the AGLC would not elaborate on what it considers to be gang colours or symbols. The agency refused to answer questions or disclose how many other Edmonton bars are required to post such signs.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton ... -1.5166818

I remember years ago being denied entry into a restaurant because I was wearing "gang colours". It was a painted Levi jacket with Judas Priest's 'Screaming For Vengeance' album cover.

[DrCaleb]

You rebel you!

I think they do that PA, in order to discriminate against people, without doing it openly.

AGLC not saying what are 'gang colours or symbols' tells me that they don't have an actual policy defining what these are, so the police can go in and point to someone and say they are violating the policy at random. That'll close a business down right quickly, which is probably why the building owner closed his shisha bar down.

[CDN_PATRIOT]

N_Fiddledog N_Fiddledog:

A Shisha lounge is a hookah hangout isn't it? I imagine it's getting all that police scrutiny for a reason.

Not buying the racism claim.

Same here.

This isn't the middle east. We don't need nonsense like this in Canada.


-J.

[BartSimpson]

stratos stratos:

IN other news the Denny's near me is closed for health violations.

Granted, on a good day their menu is a health violation!!!

[raydan]

No Denny's near here... I guess that's a good thing.

[BartSimpson]

raydan raydan:

No Denny's near here... I guess that's a good thing.

It is. They fry almost everything and they add some sort of mystery ingredient that makes everything goopy and disgusting unless you like grease as a condiment.

The last time I ate at a Denny's I felt worse than when I ate bad street food in Penang.

Ugh, never again!!!

[raydan]

I had a fried Mars bar with ice cream for the first time Saturday.

[DrCaleb]

CDN_PATRIOT CDN_PATRIOT:

Same here.

This isn't the middle east. We don't need nonsense like this in Canada.


-J.

But the cigar bar down the street is perfectly OK? How multicultural of you!

Good to see you stand up to the mistreatment and police harassment of a 20 year Canada Forces veteran too.

[llama66]

$1:

unless you like grease as a condiment.

Grease is the greatest condiment.

[raydan]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

CDN_PATRIOT CDN_PATRIOT:

Same here.

This isn't the middle east. We don't need nonsense like this in Canada.


-J.

But the cigar bar down the street is perfectly OK? How multicultural of you!

Good to see you stand up to the mistreatment and police harassment of a 20 year Canada Forces veteran too.

Because... brown people.

[DrCaleb]

$1:

'Big day for me': Judge clears former shisha lounge owner of obstruction charge

The former owner of an Edmonton shisha bar who says he was harassed by police has been found not guilty of obstruction of justice.

Hand on his heart, Mulugeta (Moe) Tesfay bowed his head and mouthed "Thank you" to Judge Donna Valgardson after she delivered her decision in a provincial courtroom on Thursday.

Tesfay was accused of providing false information to police two years ago when officers attempted to recover a gun used to threaten someone at Nyala Lounge, at 108th Avenue and 98th Street.

But following a five-day trial that took place in April and November, Valgardson acquitted Tesfay.

"I have a reasonable doubt of what the accused said to Const. [Matt] Derzko and whether what was said was indeed false," said Valgardson, prompting smiles from Tesfay's supporters who were in the gallery.

The acquittal is the latest victory for Tesfay in an ongoing battle with the city and the Edmonton Police Service.

Both declined to comment.

The obstruction charge was one of the main reasons provided by authorities in arguing that Nyala Lounge should be shut down.

. . .

Outside the courtroom, Tesfay expressed confidence in the criminal justice system and thanked the judge for making a good decision.

"They destroyed my life and my name.and to come to this day when the judge trusts I didn't lie to them — that's a big day for me," Tesfay said.

Tesfay recalled being arrested in front of customers on the obstruction charge. He said he was locked in a cell for 18 hours and denied medication for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) acquired in a suicide bomb blast in Afghanistan while serving with the Canadian military.

. . .

"It's just inexcusable treatment of anyone, let alone somebody who had been a soldier they knew had PTSD."

Engel said the police service has dragged its feet on Tesfay's complaint but under the Police Act, the officers could face charges including discreditable conduct, abuse of authority and excessive force.

"It's basically the vendetta that they carried out against him — all of which, we say, was designed to shut him down," Engel said.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton ... -1.5386535




Truth:1

Bigotry: 0