Toronto city council has voted in favour of asking the province to change the hours during which restaurants can serve alcohol on the weekends.
Councillor Paula Fletcher brought forward the motion on Tuesday, which carried 18-8.
Fletcher said she wants to see the current 11 a.m. rule be moved up to 9 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays to accommodate the city’s burgeoning brunch crowd.
“Loblaws can sell wine at 9 a.m., (but) a business two blocks away can’t sell a glass of wine until eleven,” said the Toronto-Danforth councillor. “They would just like to be able to give a glass of wine or a mimosa to their customers coming in for brunch.”
The motion comes on the heels of the province loosening some liquor rules. Back in December, the Ford government announced that all LCBO and Beer Store locations, as well as authorized grocery stores, could sell alcohol from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week. The government also lowered the minimum price of a bottle or can of beer to a dollar.
In the past, city council has given the green light on early morning drinking at bars and restaurants for special events such as Olympic hockey and FIFA games.
Any broad changes made to liquor service times have to be approved by the province.
“Our rules have been very strict for a long time, there were parts of the city that were dry until the 80s,” Coun. Mike Layton said ahead of the meeting.
“It’s okay to reevaluate some of those when we’re becoming a global 24-hour city, to see how that looks like and see how to manage it. I suspect we won’t get an enormous amount of pushback.”
Some councillors have raised questions about the proposal, suggesting the time change could cause potential noise concerns or have implications on drinking and driving.
“I think that communities have concerns when you’re changing the times when you’re serving alcohol,” Coun. Denzil Minnan-Wong said.
“It might seem harmless, but there could be some things we’re not thinking about and that’s why you take a careful approach and take it to committee.”
Earlier this month, Cindy Wilkes, the owner of Leslieville restaurant Brooklyn Tavern, expressed her frustration about the current hours.
Wilkes said she consistently has to deny her customers a mimosa during Sunday brunch.
“I’m going to say that three quarters of the people would have a drink at 10 o’clock in the morning,” she told CTV News Toronto. “I’m just trying to make a living here and give people what they want.”
Wiles took her frustration to Instagram, posting a photograph of the packed established with the caption, “Full restaurant at 10:15! Can’t serve alcohol though! But someone can smoke a joint anytime they want! Gotta love it!”
The matter will be brought before the province at a later date.
With files from CTV News Toronto's Natalie Johnson
