Toothy Moose loses license for 5 days

A popular downtown Halifax bar has been ordered to close down for five days next month after losing its liquor license.

Owners of The Toothy Moose Cabaret on Argyle Street appeared before the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board Thursday after liquor inspectors cited the bar for overcrowding and over serving.

The board ruled the bar failed to ensure the safety of its customers by allowing hundreds more people into the bar than the limit of 200 set by the provincial Fire Marshal.

"It's outrageous. You risked the lives of people, and that happened on six different occasions," board vice chair Margaret Shears said at the hearing Thursday.

"Yes, it's clear to me that you've certainly taken action now to prevent it from happening in the future. But, on any one of those occasions, there could have been a fire in your establishment. It could be one of those stories that you hear about on the news where a bar burns down and hundreds of people are killed.

"So, you put people at risk, and you benefited from that because you had more drinks sold because there were more people there."

Inspectors told the board that two women were found passed out in the washroom, and on two occasions there were 200 more people in the bar than permitted under the provincial fire code.

One violation goes back to July and involves over-serving a young woman who police say was taken to a hospital emergency room by an ambulance.

The URB has reserved a decision on whether to change the bar's license to restrict its hours of operation. The provincial alcohol and gaming division wants the cabaret to stop serving alcohol at 2 a.m. instead of 3:30 a.m.

The Toothy Moose is owned by the same group that owns Bubbles Mansion. The consortium includes Mike Smith, who plays Bubbles on the Trailer Park Boys television show.

Bubbles Mansion closed down Wednesday citing too few customers because of the provincial crackdown on $1 drinks.