The province is helping Manitobans get together and cheer on Team Canada in the gold medal hockey game against Sweden on Sunday.
Bars and restaurants will be allowed to open at the previously-unheard-of hour of 5 a.m. The game in Sochi begins at 6 a.m. Manitoba time.
“The Olympic games have, once again, captured Canadians’ imaginations,” provincial minister Dave Chomiak is quoted in a news release. “If Canada is in the gold medal game, it will be an exciting event for hockey fans and we want to give them an opportunity to gather to watch it and cheer on the nation’s team.”
It will be the first time the province has ever allowed early-morning bar opening, and the first time liquor hours have been adjusted to help Manitobans celebrate an event that isn’t going on inside the province, like a Grey Cup.
There’s no guarantee bars that want to open early on Sunday will be able to. First of all, they would have to get their application in to provincial regulators promptly on Friday. And officials say each application for early opening will be vetted and a decision made based on several factors:
- the premise’s location and vicinity to residential areas;
- the strength of the licensee’s compliance history; and
- social responsibility service record.
“Authorizations will be granted under section 100 of The Liquor Control Act, which allows occasional operating hour variances and service of liquor for events of provincial, national and international importance,” the province says.
Saskatchewan is allowing bars to open at 5:30 a.m. Sunday.
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