The Ullivik Centre on Orly Avenue in Dorval welcomes dozens of Inuit from small northern villages each week. Many patients have never left their communities.
The temptation of city life, can prove powerful.
“Of course it is tempting,” said Maggie Putulik, Ullivik’s director. “There are no bars in the north. Most of the communities are dry.”
That’s why director Maggie Putulik got worried, when she heard someone wanted to open a bar down the street.
“I am very concerned for their safety. I’m concerned for their health, for their well-being.”
Last month, Quebec’s liquor board granted a permit for a bar to open in the basement of a hotel not far from Ullivik. Putulik contends the bar is specifically targeting her clientele.
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She says she knows the owner. She explains Ullivik’s old location was downtown, near Cabot square. It moved to its new location in December, 2016.
She says before that, a bar in nearby Alexhis Nihon served many of her Inuit patients. She says it’s the same family opening the new bar.
“I saw an advertisement saying Archie’s bar opening very soon. The ad was specific to Inuit, saying all Inuit welcome,” she says.
The person who plans on opening the bar told Global News he feels he’s being unfairly criticized. He says he isn’t specifically targeting Inuit clientele, and that there are already many other bars and restaurants in the area.
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Still, Putulik believes one more bar is too many.
“The bar is too close for comfort to the centre. There are already bars in Dorval, and in my opinion we don’t need another bar opening 600 metres down the street,” she says.
Even some Ullivik clients admit concern.
“I am a bit worried too, because our Inuit have drinking problems sometimes,” said Lizzie, who didn’t give a last name.
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Despite the criticism, the bar owner plans on opening soon.
Ullivik, however, is appealing the bar permit decision
That appeal should be heard in the next six months.
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