Green Vows to Make Life Easier for Bars, Cafes

[rt_0891]

Green vows to make life easier for bars, cafes

Frances Bula
Vancouver Sun

October 12, 2005

VANCOUVER - Would-be Vancouver mayor Jim Green promised more sidewalk cafes and less red tape for city restaurants and bars Tuesday.

In what was clearly a reminder of a successful campaign issue in the 2002 election, Green, who is running at the head of a new party called Vision Vancouver, promised Vancouver would not go back to being a "no fun" city the way he says it was under the Non-Partisan Association.

Green said he would establish a panel to look at ways to cut red tape for the entertainment industry. Appearing at the Cottage Bistro on Main Street, one of several restaurants that can now have live entertainment after Green and his council colleagues changed a bylaw, he said: "We're one of the greatest cities in the world but we have fewer sidewalk patios per population of any city even though we have the best weather. We have a lot more to do on other issues as well, if we're bringing the Olympics here."

Vance Campbell, an entertainment industry consultant and a member of the city's vocal Barwatch group, said Green's announcement was welcome.

"If he's going to attack that, we're all for that."

But he said two of the biggest problems for the city's entertainment business are not city bylaws or liquor licensing, but the amount of money paid to police to supervise major festivals, and the fees bar owners have to pay for extra patrols since bars were given permission to stay open to 3 a.m.

At the same time, Campbell said, Vancouver's entertainment scene has improved noticeably in the last three years.

"We've come a long way."

The Coalition of Progressive Electors swept the NPA out of power in 2002, in part with the help of the hospitality and bar industry that was frustrated with what seemed to them to be a the NPA's greater interest in regulation than promoting business. A group of them ran a Funcouver campaign and endorsed candidates they thought would be less regulation-oriented.

Bar owners continue to support and contribute to Green's campaign with the party he formed when the original nine COPE councillors split into two factions.

fbula@png.canwest.com

STANDING UP FOR FUN:

Vision Vancouver mayoral candidate Jim Green announced Tuesday his plans to reduce red tape affecting the city's small business, entertainment and tourism industries.

- "Vancouver has the best weather in Canada but the fewest outdoor patios of any major city."

- "In the last three years, we've cleaned up NPA over-regulation and anti-fun policies that burdened our tourism industry."

- "I have a different vision of a vibrant city where Vancouverites and visitors alike can enjoy a glass of wine in a sidewalk cafe, just like you can in other great cities."

Ran with fact box "Standing Up for Fun", which has beenappended to the end of the story.
© The Vancouver Sun 2005

[ssiguy2]

Thank god!
Vancouver is a complete bore compared to other world cities, thats just one of the reasons it doesn't rank as one.

[sukh]

^ Surrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre it is


Anyways whatever happend to that plan to extend the entertainment district all the way to the Granville bridge?

[Tri-City Guy]

As long as the Cecil on Granville remains open Vancouver is most indeed world class. They have world premiere's all the time.

[addisonwesley]

Haha, wow. Good I presume.