For decades certain bars, parties and other events have charged an informal entry fee of $2 or $5 or so in exchange for being allowed inside.
This means, of course, that a customer could simply say that he wishes to enter without paying the tip and the bar would be forced to oblige although that might lead to some friction.
After long turning a blind eye to the practice, the Quebec government decided to crack down on the practice, so it sent undercover inspectors to Cafe Cleopatra strip club on the Main to investigate in November 2019.
Cleopatra's is a venerable old-style strip club that has withstood intense pressure from various levels of government attempting to eradicate all traces of the old sexiness of St. Lawrence. So it might be suspected that the target of the government raid was politically motivated.
When the undercover inspectors attempted to enter Cleopatra's, the doorman blocked them and asked them for $5 to enter. They tried it again the next day and the same thing occurred.
Revenue Quebec hauled Cleopatra's in front of a judge on 11 March 2021 to charge the bar with tax evasion.
Johnny Zoumboulaki, who has owned the bar since 1985, explained that they have a sign clearly posted explaining that there is no entry and a tip is at the discretion of the customers. The bar brass said that they are not required to report the tips because they are not an official transaction involving the club.
Zoumbalakis argued that the tip represents a sort of appreciation for the protection that the burly doormen offer to patrons inside the club. He mentioned that customers who spend a lot of money on video poker machines are not asked for a tip because they're already spending a lot in the club.
A regular named Morrie Eisenberg, who has visited the club two or three times a week for the last 18 years, testified that the doormen, who include Shawn Denny and Martin Delorme, don't ask him for tips.
Judge Julie Laliberte ruled against Cleopatra. Another meeting took place on 17 September to figure out how much to fine the club.
So be warned: the practice of asking for an informal cover charge, whether it be for a beer bash, or a party or any sort of event, is now officially considered illegal.
ReplyDeleteGood article…
Cleopatra’s….I walked in one day, back in early eighties, expecting something completely different 😂…..I never went back…
Good!
ReplyDeleteThe last time I went into a strip bar (I forget its name) was about twenty years ago and I remember the doorman/bouncer thanking me for the loonie I placed in his outstretched palm.
ReplyDeleteAs it was in the middle of the afternoon, the place was virtually empty except for one other male patron and a waitress. A female stripper was already onstage making her moves and looked bored--clearly unenthusiastic about performing for just two customers.
As I drank my (overpriced) beer and watched (equally bored, I might add), I wondered how much money these type of bars earned in a year and why, invariably, they seemed to be run by shady characters. You would think that after many decades a more professional system would be in place in Quebec; the type of which evidently exist successfully in Las Vegas and in progressive European countries, some of which have even legalized prostitution.
But, I digress. Anyway, at the end of the stripper's performance, she climbed offstage and walked to the far end of the room. The other patron got up and followed her after which they went through a door to do--whatever--about which I didn't ask any questions to anyone employed in the bar, nor was I tempted to do so.
Although I do not remember seeing any signs advertising the fact, I can only assume that the back room led to private stalls where, for an extra charge, lap-dances took place. Was something considerably more physical going on? Who knows? Having finished my beer, I left.
Regarding legal hours of operation, these have changed back and forth over the past decades with club and bar closing times having varied from midnight to one a.m., two a.m., and now (2021) three a.m.--not to mention after-hours clubs which have developed a bad reputation.
The Drapeau administration of the early 1950s routinely sent undercover "morality police" into nightclubs to catch any illegal activity including fraternization between performers and patrons, arresting those suspected of homosexual behaviour, as well as people overheard using foul language. Back then, the notion of hearing women swearing would have been unthinkable.
Times have changed, of course, and not for the better. The after-hours clubs are hot-beds for drug and weapon dealing among other various criminal activities, not to mention routine drunken brawls which often move outside as vicious street fights--usually stabbings whose victims all too often refuse to identify their attackers to police and ambulance crews, that is, unless they die from their wounds.
Nearby residents who are unfortunate enough to live near such late hour clubs have to put up with loud arguments and brawls out on the street and patrons urinating wherever the get the urge to do so. How many remember these ongoing problems occurring when the Cafe Campus was located at the northwest corner of Queen Mary Road and Decelles? Adjacent apartment building residents had been complaining for years until the club was forced to move elsewhere.
Now that the Covid-19 pandemic has forced the current municipal administration to give the green light to bars and clubs to remain open to three a.m., thereby enabling them to make up for the loss of business they previously enjoyed, we may rest assured that it will be virtually impossible to roll back to two a.m. or one a.m. after the health crisis has disappeared. Wealthy whiners like the multi-club owner Sergakis will be screaming "Unfair!" while equally loud, street drunkenness and deadly brawls prevail until, inevitably, complaints will increase, the tide will turn, and another more conservative city administration is elected to change the rules once again--if they dare.
Around and around goes the merry-go-round.
👍
ReplyDeleteGood to know!
ReplyDelete