Angry in the Great White North

Here is the Facebook invitation to a party at Michael Ignatieff's private residence:

As the title suggests, the most important aspect of this get-together is the booze.

This is interesting on a number of points.

First, this party is for the Young Liberals of Canada. The YLC is open to Liberals 25 years of age and younger. In Ontario, a caterer is expected to card anyone who looks 25 or younger to ensure that no one under the age of 19 is being served alcohol.

That's going to be a lot of ID cards being flashed. But I'm certain they will be vigilant at the party.

But here's the real interesting thing. The purpose of the party is to erase Michael Ignatieff's campaign debts:

Cost: $25 (with a 75% tax reciept) [sic]
Cheque, Visa or MasterCard

NO CASH DONATIONS (Elections Canada rule, sorry!)

Cheques made payable to:
"Liberal Party of Canada for Michael Ignatieff"

All funds will go towards erasing the campaign debt to ensure the party is ready to fight the Conservatives.

The campaign debt? I have to assume it's Michael Ignatieff's leadership campaign debt, or else why would the cheque have his name on it?

In any case, Ignatieff's campaign debt is unknown:

But the eight other candidates, including runner-up and deputy leader, Michael Ignatieff, did not file their final campaign returns as required under the Canada Elections Act.

Rather, they asked for and were granted extensions. Most of the candidates will file their final returns on July 4; Vancouver Liberal MP Hedy Fry has been granted an extension to July 23.

Given that the debts of the other leadership candidates started in the millions and still runs in the hundreds of thousands, I expect Ignatieff's debt is not insignificant.

So why is all this so interesting? The interesting thing is that if someone pays to relieve me of debt, I'm profiting from that. And that matters when you are hosting a party at which alcohol is served:

Special Occasion Permits

Special Occasion Permits are for occasional special events only and not for private profit. If you intend to serve liquor for private profit, you must obtain a liquor license. A permit may be revoked before the event if the Registrar has reason to believe the event is being used for personal gain.

So did Michael Ignatieff get a Special Occasion Permit or a full-blown liquor licence?

Special Occasion Permits are for special events, such as weddings, receptions, charitable fundraisers, community festivals and auctions. Permits are intended for occasional use only, not for ongoing profit-making purposes.

The need for a permit depends on where your event will be held and whether you plan to sell the alcohol or give it to your guests free of charge. The following are common examples:

• If you use a residence, you do not need a permit. It is illegal to sell alcohol in a residence

Now if you don't pay the cover charge, you don't get in. Does that mean the alcohol is being sold? It seems that is does:

There are three classes of Special Occasion Permits available:

1. Sale: A Sale special occasion permit is issued when money is collected directly for beverage alcohol through an admission charge to the event, when tickets for beverage alcohol are sold to people attending the event, or when there is any pre-collection of money for the beverage alcohol.

2. No Sale: A No Sale special occasion permit is issued when beverage alcohol is served without charge or when there is no money collected for beverage alcohol - either directly or indirectly - from guests.

The third class is for auctions, and clearly does not apply. In the case of the Ignatieff Booze and Schmooze, there is an admission charge for the event that might be considered to be indirectly used to pay for the bar tab.

But according to the previous rule, it is illegal to sell alcohol in a residence, so a Special Occassion Permit for Sale of Alcohol could not be issued for this event.

And in any case, since this could be seen as a means by which Michael Ignatieff personally profits (by relieving him of his campaign debt) a liquor licence is required, not a Special Occassion Permit.

But a liquor licence is also problematic:

Definitions of Licences

The following are types of licences available from the AGCO:

• Sales Licence: The holder of a sales licence may sell and serve liquor in a licensed establishment where light meals are available.
• Mini Bar Licence: The holder of a mini bar licence may sell and serve liquor from a dispenser (a mini bar) in a room that is rented for overnight accommodation.

A house is not a licensed establishment, nor is it a hotel, and in any case, it is illegal to sell alcohol in your home.

I think this would have been a lot simpler if they had just rented a hall or booked a restaurant for the evening. But that would have cost more, and would have eaten into the money being raised to pay off the campaign debt.

There's that darn private profit issue again.

All I know is that I would think twice before selling booze to young people as a means of raising money to pay off my debts, regardless of whether I was technically inside the rules covering the sale and serving of alcohol in Ontario.

It's just unseemly.

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