St. Patrick's celebrations

[jeffster]

I will agree that saying Ezra has ZERO economic benefits is wrong, but I would also say the benefits would be minimal.

Yes, out of towners booked hotels.  Taxi and Uber drivers likely made bank.  "Some" alcohol would of been purchased at local beer stores/LCBO's, but a fair number would of came in on the school buses too (Those buses likely rented in the municipality in which they reside).  But other than that, I couldn't see much to stimulate our economy.  (I would also doubt restaurants benefited, with the exception of any Taco Bell's or McD's open at 3 am)

Coke

You forgot about Mel's Diner, and local night clubs. Who also increased cover cost, knowing how busy they were going to be by literally doubling he price. If you saw the line at one of the night clubs you would think they were lining up for Michael Jackson as he came back to life.

But do we know this? Have you worked in the industry? I have. And it's not a boon at all. St. Patrick's day should be a good day to most places regardless of the Ezra event, but having done work for an owner that operates in that area (20 years), the year-over-year sales have *decreased* rather than increase over the past few years. Why? Because of this unsanctioned party. St. Paddy's, along with homecoming, was the cash cow. Now St. Patrick's is like any other day. Why would someone go to a restaurant and pay $5+ per drink, when they a beer will cost them $1.50 on Ezra?

It's not a matter of 'old folks' not wanting the younger crowd to have fun. What the issue is is the cost to region for an event that is not helpful, nor open, to really anyone. If it was revenue positive, you would have heard about it by now. If there was a benefit to the region, you'd have heard about it by now.

As for underage drinking, that is not OK. And the drain on the services is not OK. Just remember, when an ambulance is picking up another drunk student, that's time taken away potentially from someone that needs medical help. It's not a matter of "if" but "when" something happens. This is referred to as a "Code Red" -- when a ambulance is not available for dispatch. If you think that a students right to party illegally is more important than having emergency services available, then you really need to give you head a shake. Personally, I'm not OK with ambulances wasting their time picking up drunks when some senior on the other side of the city is having a heart attack...or if some kid gets run over by a car.

619 charges laid this year for the Ezra event. Now we have the courts all tied up. I don't have the current numbers for other events, for example, Oktoberfest, but IIRC, it was less than 100.

If the Laurier and Waterloo want to team up and hire paramedics, security, police, etc., and leave the region out of it, I'm fine with that. They can set up a tent somewhere to deal with passed out students and leave Grand River Hospital and St. Mary's out of it too. But guess what, that would never happen because it would create major legal issues if something happened.

Sorry, but no excuse for the illegal party. Make it legal, raise funds for charity, charge admission, open it to everyone, have it licensed, etc. Bingeman's has their Everafterfest, and that's mostly geared to 18-25 year olds, who actually are coming from all over Canada and US and bring real benefits to the city and region, (despite some angry locals at having loud music blaring past 6PM).