Montreal may soon become a 24 hour drinking city

[TheButcher]

I like this idea.


I honestly do not care if they move to allow 24 hour drinking in Montreal or any other city, what I do not like is limits to when businesses can open and close. Let the market dictate what hours stores remain open not laws. If a business makes money by staying open late or even 24 hours then great.



https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckdgqpy0lyeo



"When Frank Sinatra sang about “a city that never sleeps”, he probably wasn’t thinking about the economic boost that busy nightlife can provide to a metropolis.

Yet a growing number of cities around the world are increasingly homing in on ways to strengthen their night-time economy.

Around 100 cities now have some form of “night mayor” or “night tsar” in place, to spur this work.

But most of those cities, including London, Sydney, and Sinatra’s beloved New York, are not up all night. In other words, they don’t allow bars and nightclubs to remain open, and serve alcohol, 24 hours a day.

Nonetheless, later this year, Montreal - Canada’s second-largest city - is planning to take the leap into 24-hour nightlife.

Following in the footsteps of Berlin and Tokyo, venues in a new all-night district in Montreal's city centre will be licensed to remain open, and serve alcohol, throughout the night.

City officials say the move will bring in hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenue. Currently bars and clubs in the city have to close by 3am.

Montreal will become the first city in Canada to allow 24-hour drinking. In Toronto venues have to close by 2am, and it is 3am in Vancouver.

In the US, Las Vegas and New Orleans have long allowed bars and clubs to stay open all night. While in New York the cut off time is 4am, and in Los Angeles it is 2am.

On the other side of the Atlantic, pubs in London still typically close at 11pm. The city does, however, have a handful of nightclubs and bars that stay open all night, thanks to flexible licensing laws.

On a warm Friday evening in July, the centre of Montreal is bustling; busy bars and restaurants line the wide, pedestrianised streets.

“This is an opportunity for economic growth,” says Ericka Alneus, the city councillor behind the 24-hour plan.

“But it’s also to present, and reinforce, the cultural scene.”

In 2022, the annual financial value of Montreal’s nightlife was estimated to be worth C$2.25bn ($1.6bn; £1.3bn), according to advocacy group MTL 24/24. It says that from this, C$121m went in tax to the government.

Clearly, Ms Alneus hopes those figures will increase when venues are allowed to stay open all night.

But not everyone is supportive of the change: “We don’t have enough security for it,” says one concerned reveller.

A fellow citizen is worried about the practical implications: “It’s nice for people who like to party, but the Metro closes at 1.30am,” she says. “There has to be some kind of way people can go back home.”"


In this second part of the article form the BBC which I highlighted seems logical. The same way when bars have "Last call" people drink more in the last hlf hour which they might not do if the last call to buy another pint did not happen.,


""There's no infrastructure to uphold it. There's no 24-hour public transport, there's no extra security.

“Then, there’s the cost of living. If people can't afford to go out, no matter what 24-hour policy you put in, it doesn't change anything,” he adds.

As the sun sets outside a different bar, L’ile Noir, owner Michelle Lavellee disagrees - he has a different take on the closing-time situation.

“In Montreal, we close at 3am. People are drunk at 1am - and they're super-drunk at 3am.

“One of the problems we have is, at 3am it's like madness. But if you expand the hours, there’s less problems, less demand for security,” he explains.

Ms Alneus agrees. She says the fact that so many bars and clubs all currently close at 3am presents problems for the police.

She believes by allowing 24-hour drinking, those venues that don’t wish to stay open all night will be able to close at different times across the night.

She maintains staggering closing time will bring “a bit more safety in nightlife areas”."

[pokerking]

More business = more taxes, if more people get pulled over for a DUI = more revenue for the city, win win for the city.

[jag]

Cigarettes are being banned in some countries very soon, do you see alcohol being the next product to be targeted for a ban.

[Big MOE]

Why limit on store openings and what they can sell is bs

[3ric]

What can go wrong more drunk people on the roads, more accidents??

[Webby]

What can go wrong more drunk people on the roads, more accidents??

No one drinks more because alcohol is served longer hours

[CanadianChick]

It will make my day (and nights)