Montreal strip club Chez Paree has liquor licence suspended

Chez Parée. (Source: Google Street View)

Chez Parée, a popular strip club in downtown Montreal, was ordered to pay a $30,000 fine and had its liquor licence suspended for two weeks last month after serious public security concerns over a six-year period were brought forward by Quebec's liquor and gaming control board.

The Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux brought the owner of Chez Parée before an administrative tribunal last December to bring to light instances of organized crime groups frequenting the bar without being searched, gunshots being fired at the venue, physical assaults on clients and on the police, and smoking inside the bar.

The bar, near the corner of Stanley and Sainte-Catherine streets, has been serving its clientele since 1982 and bills itself as the "No. 1 Gentlemen's Club in Montreal."

The business admitted to a litany of breaches of regulations and has vowed to take action to address them.

According to a Dec. 18, 2023 judgment, Montreal police "observed several attacks on public peace and public security at the establishment" between 2017 and 2023, and documented 40 occasions when members of outlaw motorcycle gangs were inside the bar.

"On two other occasions, police noticed that individuals known to be connected with organized crime were entering the establishment without lining up or being searched," reads the decision from administrative judge Natalia Ouellette.

Other incidents that were flagged include: 11 occasions in which customers were inside the bar with guns, four occasions when customers had drugs on them, one case where a client was sexually assaulted by another client, one case of a bouncer working without a permit, police intervening on 14 occasions for intoxicated customers, and one case of employees smoking inside the bar.

"The violence reached a climax on the morning of March 6, 2023, when three individuals fired shots at a group of customers facing the establishment. The individuals quickly left the scene, while several of the customers targeted by the shots took refuge in the establishment. Police discovered 16 shell casings and a dozen bullet holes, some of which were visible on the front of the establishment," the ruling read.

The tribunal noted that it must revoke an establishment's liquor licence "when its operation undermines public safety."

After admitting to the breaches, the bar's owner and the liquor and gaming board jointly agreed to a penalty of a 14-day suspension of its liquor licence and the fine.

The bar also agreed to a voluntary commitment to adopt several public security measures at the entrance, including requiring customers to pass through a metal detector, having at least three bouncers at the door on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings, and refusing access to "any person deemed undesirable and likely to cause problems of violence and, in particular, to any person wearing distinctive signs identifying him or her as a street gang or [outlaw biker gang]."

The ruling says failure to comply with the commitment could result in more severe penalties.