Sask. bar owners, staff swallow stiff message from SGI lawsuit

Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) has served up a stiff message to bar owners and staff that over-serve patrons, according to an industry representative. 

Jim Bence, CEO and president of the Saskatchewan Hotel and Hospitality Association, said he isn't surprised the province is taking legal action against two bars that served Catherine McKay, an intoxicated woman who drove drunk and killed four people back in January 2016. 

"This is I think the government's way of putting Saskatchewan owners, operators and servers on notice that there will be further ramifications, further consequences if we continue to over-serve," he said.

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"When it comes to the law, it's very clear that the owners of the establishment and the folks that serve the alcohol could he held accountable."

McKay's blood alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit when her vehicle struck the car carrying the Van de Vorst family north of Saskatoon last January. 

The four members of the family — two adults and their children — died.

Two Saskatoon businesses, Industrial Kitchen & Bar, and Crackers Licensed Cocktail & Dining Room, served McKay the night of the incident.

Mandatory training

Bence said bar and restaurant owners were informed by the province in 2015 that a mandatory alcohol training program was being phased in over three years.

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All bar owners and new hires involved in the sale of alcohol were supposed to have completed the Serve It Right training by last June. As of June 2017, bars and restaurants must have at least one person on shift that has undergone training. 

By June 2018, all employees that serve booze will had to have taken the training. 

Once trained, staff should be able to identity when someone is intoxicated—whether they have been drinking at that establishment or arrived already drunk — and know how to cut them off, explained Bence.

"Saskatchewan does have some of the highest DUI numbers in the country and more litigation like this from SGI should be expected by owners in our industry," he said. 

"We have to have the proper training, we have to be able to identify when people are impaired or becoming impaired and make sure that we cut them off and make sure that they get home safely so this doesn't happen again."