RM of Hanover never had proper booze ban

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This article was published 24/07/2014 (3556 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Raise your glass, RM of Hanover. The decades-old belief that Hanover is a dry municipality never had any basis in fact.

Municipal staff came to the bewildering conclusion this week there was never a bylaw outlawing the sale of alcohol within their borders. It was simply an assumption passed down by municipal residents over the years. 

Reeve Stan Toews admits this is a surprising revelation.

“I was always under the impression, along with everybody else, that Hanover was dry.”

Toews said after a restaurant owner requested a new liquor referendum be added to this fall’s municipal ballot, staff began searching for a bylaw banning alcohol sales. When they couldn’t locate it, they reached out to a municipal lawyer, who also found nothing.

A past liquor referendum in 2006, which was narrowly defeated by 29 votes, did not require the stringent background checks this upcoming plebiscite did. 

Toews said any Hanover establishment may now apply for a provincial liquor license if they are interested. A resolution clarifying that no new liquor referendum would be required was passed at council on Wednesday. 

The convenience store in Sarto, which has been selling alcohol since 1979, has always been considered an exception to the rule. 

“I often asked the older folks, ‘How come Sarto has a liquor store? We’re dry,’” said Toews. “Nobody could give me a very good answer.”