 City again slams doors on Edmonton shisha lounge, citing 'safety concerns' Nyala Lounge has had its business licence pulled again, 10 weeks after Edmonton city officials reversed the initial decision to shut down the local shisha bar. But the owner is questioning the fairness of the city's most recent action.Commentsview comments in forum Page 1 You need to be a member of CKA and be logged into the site, to comment on news. |
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The comments are property of their posters, all the rest © 2019 by Canadaka.net
The comments are property of their posters, all the rest © 2019 by Canadaka.net
Not buying the racism claim.
Me neither. There's alot more to this than what we're being told. But a question. Why would a Shisha lounge be required to "photograph" customers coming in the door and is this a bylaw for all outlets that sell tobacco in Edmonton?
There is no requirement, it was added as a requirement when Police stepped up enforcement of the bar. It's a self fulfilling cycle. Police don't like the sisha bar, so they check it out often and thoroughly. That discourages customers, and they also give frequent tickets also to discourage customers.
The frequent tickets are then used as evidence of a 'safety violation' that the city cited to revoke their license, even though most tickets end up getting tossed out of court.
His priority, said Tesfay, was to keep customers, neighbours and police safe.
Tesfay paid to install an ID scanner, and beefed up security staff as he was advised to do. He said he also called police "many times" about suspicious activity related to two nearby bars in the McCauley neighbourhood that have since been shut down.
Once he even tracked a suspect in his truck for several blocks until police could arrest him, Tesfay recalled.
But Tesfay said relations deteriorated when he started questioning frequent visits to his lounge which saw police conduct identification checks on regular customers, mostly in their 30s, 40s and 50s. He also raised privacy concerns about random police inspections of the ID scanner, sometimes after hours.
Police rejected a proposal for mediation and a community town hall meeting to address concerns, said Tesfay. After sending several letters to Edmonton police Chief Rod Knecht and filing a formal complaint, now under investigation by the professional standards branch, Tesfay said the raids ramped up.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton ... -1.4710261
Other cities do it too.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/h ... -1.4169660
By the way, officer, my name is Go Fuck Yourself and I live at 3135 Kiss My Ass Lane.
Personal record was in 1970. Drove the length of Kingsway bringing gf home to New West after a dance. Got pulled over and ID'd 7 times, no tickets. Just 3 police departments being pigs.
“They have been trying almost three years actually,” said Tesfay, who bought the bar 10 years ago.
“They’re trying different things; that this is a criminal hub, that there are a lot of shootings outside.”
Nyala Lounge has received nearly 30 tickets — 17 of which still need to be dealt with in court. He has been fined $24,000 since June for licence condition violations.
“Out of the 22 violent incidents that occurred, in or outside the venue, 13 involved weapons, mainly firearms,” Justin Lallemand, a support manager for PSCT, said. “After meetings, consultations and recommendations, Nyala Lounge remained non-complaint and unwilling to cooperate.”
Tesfay, who served in the military for 20 years, is ready to move on.
“I’m not fighting for a licence anymore. They can shut it down.”
Tesfay owns the building and has put it up for sale.
https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/repeated-vi ... -1.4107142
Edmonton shisha lounge reopens after owner appeals 2nd closure