Tonight, five days before thousands of costumed revelers descend on George Street for the annual mardi gras, St. John’s city council will ponder what one Alberta town is doing to keep the peace in its troubled bar district.

It’s likely too late to implement any of the ideas for this weekend’s bash, but then George Street – and its problems – aren’t going anywhere, either, notes Coun. Dennis O’Keefe. “We all know that there are issues down there that have to be resolved if George Street is going to become what it can become potentially – that is, one of the premiere entertainment districts in Canada,” O’Keefe said Sunday in advance of tonight’s council meeting.

The at-large councilor says a tough new bylaw passed by council in Red Deer, Alta. Might be worth a look. According to Forum magazine, a publication distributed to municipal leaders across Canada, the action – which some suggest is the toughest in the country – is aimed at curtailing late-night problems in Red Deer’s downtown bar district.

One section of Red Deer’s new Establishment Licensing Bylaw requires bars to pay an annual operating licensing fee based on approved occupancy permit loads: $100 for bars that hold 1 – 299 people; $500 for 300 – 499 people; and $5,000 for places that can accommodate more than 500.

The fees, which are expected to generate about $25,000 a year, will be used to cover the cost of a part-time bylaw officer, according to Forum magazine. O’Keefe admits that might be a tough sell for local bar owners. “But if we’re going to develop George Street as an entertainment district, not just a bar district, we’ve got to get away from, ‘It doesn’t happen in my bar,’” he said.

“The fact is, when I or my children go down there, it’s not one bar that’s the problem. It’s George Street as a whole. They’ve got to start thinking street-wise as opposed to individual club-wise.”

The move was made in Red Deer, according to the bylaw, to respond to a “significant increase in problems associated with the disorderly conduct” of bar patrons, including violent altercations in the streets, traffic and parking violations, vandalism, littering and noise.

St. John’s can relate.

“It shows that the problems we’re having are not unique; it’s in other jurisdictions right across Canada,” said O’Keefe. “And they’re coming up with ways to deal with it. “So, this is primarily information for council so that we can have a broader understanding of what others are doing, and decide whether we want to adopt some of their ideas.”

One piece of advice offered by a Red Deer councilor, however, will be of little use to St. John’s. “Don’t let proliferation of bars settle in one spot,” Red Deer Coun. Lorna Watkinson-Zimmer told Forum. “We have four bars in a matter of one and one-half blocks.”

George Street has about 10 times that number. “It’s too late for that here,” noted O’Keefe.

Brian Callahan, The Telegram, Monday, October 25, 2004