The full extent of the oppression inflicted on downtrodden B.C. drinkers wasn鈥檛 made clear until the liquor-policy review started.
That鈥檚 where the awful scale of the tyranny we鈥檝e lived under for generations was crystallized in one brutal fact.
B.C. doesn鈥檛 have a happy hour.
Everywhere else there鈥檚 a happy hour. But in B.C., they are specifically outlawed.
What is this, North Korea?
Outlawing happiness sounds like an open-and-shut human rights violation. But we鈥檝e put up with it for generations, to the point where we scarcely even notice it. It wasn鈥檛 until it dawned that B.C. is the only place in Canada without a happy hour that I realized how badly I want one.
A brief from a lobby group called Campaign for Culture brought home the full implications of our lack of a happy hour. The campaign is a small group of young people 鈥渄edicated to the enhancement of the social and cultural fabric of B.C.鈥�
It鈥檚 headed by Elin Tayyar, a former University of B.C. student who got interested in liquor policy while creating a microbrewery at UBC, a project he鈥檚 still working on. He said his group has no links to industry groups and is a non-profit society.
The campaign鈥檚 brief to the liquor review portrays B.C. as the last, archaic outpost 鈥渢o ban consumers from enjoying happy hours.鈥�
Happy hour is defined as the practice of offering differential pricing for patrons during set hours each day, usually late afternoon or early evening.
鈥淭he practice encourages people to go to licensed establishments during those hours and results in a more outgoing and social environment, during typically less busy hours,鈥� says Tayyar.
Not only is B.C. the only place in Canada without a happy hour, it 鈥渞emains one of the few jurisdictions in the developed world without one.鈥�
It鈥檚 crushing to realize how far behind this province is in the field of cultivating a vivacious social ambience. You think you鈥檝e built a society, and then you remember happy hour is outlawed, and you realize we鈥檙e barely out of the caves.
Even worse, Ontario emerged out of the dark ages years before B.C. even started considering it.
That province lifted a 23-year ban on happy hours in 2007, according to the campaign. One study found no difference in alcohol consumption and declared happy hour has an insignificant effect.
The group says moderated happy hours would enhance the social fabric of B.C. and modernize an archaic policy.
鈥淚n many world-class cities, happy hour provides an occasion to go out to a restaurant or pub and socialize with colleagues. Done earlier in the evening, it results in an atmosphere where social interaction is emphasized over drinking.鈥�
The long-standing suspicions about happy hour leading to chronic over-drinking are based on examples in the U.S. where it鈥檚 done irresponsibly (two-for-one deals, or all-you-can-drink offers).
The Campaign for Culture paints an alluring picture of happy hour. It鈥檚 a time when many adults go out to pubs and restaurants to socialize with colleagues over a few drinks, something largely missing in B.C.
The time limit, usually up to 8 or 9 p.m., means drunkenness, noise and other problems blamed on alcohol are not as pronounced as those related to late-night drinking.
鈥淎lready with some of the highest liquor prices and the toughest impaired-driving laws in North America, the traditional and dogmatic arguments against happy hours apply even less to B.C. than any other jurisdiction.鈥�
It鈥檚 just one of dozens of pitches being made to B.C. Liberal MLA John Yap, parliamentary secretary to the attorney general, as he conducts a review of liquor policy in B.C.
For all the cultural enlightenment on display in the group鈥檚 brief, there are also people pointing out the dangers of relaxing laws. (Think Stanley Cup riot.)
But happy hour has a chance at a tryout. Yap noted one of the common themes he hears is that people think tourists must be shocked or surprised when they discover some of the rules B.C. has about liquor. If enough people are embarrassed about explaining to visitors why they鈥檙e paying full price for a drink at 5 p.m., things may change.
