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A Kootenay pub owner who held a big welcome back post-COVID event in their Cranbrook bar has lost their licence for being a dozen people over capacity.

According to a recently published March 9 BC Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch decision, the Cranbrook Hotel had either 130 or 133 people inside during the summer 2022 event but only had the legal capacity for 121.

The bar was slapped with fines for being over capacity and another fine for drawing attention to a liquor inspector. In BC it's against the terms of having a liquor licence to "draw attention" to a liquor inspector.

The bar appealed the fine arguing it wasn't over capacity and didn't draw attention to the liquor inspector.

The decision said in July 2022, the Cranbrook Hotel held a live music event that was intended to welcome people back to downtown Cranbrook after COVID.

Bands played, the bar sold tickets and hired six extra staff expecting to be far busier than a normal Friday night.

Two local politicians attended to emcee the event.

"Both viewed the event as a good opportunity to revitalize downtown Cranbrook and were happy to participate," the decision said.

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At about 12:15 a.m., the liquor inspector showed up and asked the door person for a head count. The door person said they had issued 136 wristbands but several people may have left.

The inspector said the maximum capacity was 121 people. He then got out a clicker and counted 130 people.

What happened next is disputed, but the licensee Darryl Ogilvie claimed the inspector told him the bar would immediately be shut down and he'd be fined $7,000.

He said he was devastated by the news and described the inspector as "overbearing and belligerent."

The inspector said he never said the bar would be shut down but one of the RCMP officers with him said this and he didn't correct him to avoid embarrassing the officer.

The licensee told the inspector at least 18 people had left. The liquor inspector did another count and found 130 in the bar – nine over capacity.

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Somewhere along the way, the two local politicians became involved.

Neither politician is named but one is described as being "well-known" and the inspector recognized him.

"(One politician) questioned the inspector about his person counts and if the inspector had included staff in his counts, suggesting that was inappropriate," the decision said.

One of the politicians told the Inspector he was a retired fire inspector and didn't see safety issues due to overcrowding.

"(The well-known politician) also thought the RCMP officers looked uncomfortable and didn’t want to be there. He thought they had better things to do with their time than to attend at the premises with the inspector," the decision read. "He also questioned why so many officers were present, suggesting he may have seen as many as five officers."

The decision goes through a lengthy play-by-play of the events that night.

Eventually, around half a dozen staff members left along with some others and the inspector said the bar was now compliance and left.

The decision said during the hearing the Liquor Branch delegate wasn't impressed with the licensee's testimony of the events on that night.

"Overall, I found... his evidence and behaviour to be so naive as not to meet the standard expected from a licensee. I found the inspector to be more precise in his evidence and much clearer in his recollections of that evening," regulation branch general manager’s delegate Dianne Flood said in the decision.

She also had stern words for the politicians.

"I do want to note that while (the politicians) acted with good intentions, they did, albeit unintentionally, interfere with the inspector’s ability to do his job. It can be a fine balance for elected officials in supporting a constituent when dealing with a civil servant, especially when doing what can be a difficult job in a challenging situation," the branch delegate said.

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Ultimately, the bar was found not to have drawn attention to the liquor inspector but was over capacity, albeit by a "small number."

"While the threat to public safety may have been on the low end of the scale that needs to be balanced against the well-being of the community, which can be affected whenever the permitted capacity is exceeded," the branch delegate said.

The bar then chose a one-day licence suspension over a $1,000 fine.

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