After numerous disputes over violations of environmental law, Camping Havana Resort in Maricourt in the Eastern Townships had its liquor license revoked by the Régie des alcools, des Courses et des Jeux du Québec.
The site managers are disappointed and won’t stop there. Ariane and Laurence Perrier, the two young women who claim to be the sole shareholders of the family business, intend to challenge the decision and challenge the verdict in the Quebec Administrative Court.
In its decision to revoke the site’s managers’ alcohol licenses, the Régie cited issues of social acceptance and public nuisance related to the noise and violent events that have occurred at the site since it opened in 2016.
Between June 2017 and September 2022, the police had to intervene more than 100 times against the campsite due to noise pollution. Also, in October 2017, authorities were called after a brawl between drunk customers that ended in transport to the hospital.
One person had also been hospitalized after binge drinking in 2020 to be treated in intensive care.
In the eyes of the two young women, there is a need for clarification. Noise complaints related to daytime entertainment activities have already been largely resolved.
After 10 p.m. no party will be tolerated, they specified.
In its decision, management is sticking to allegations from police sources that Ariane and Laurence Perrier were just figureheads for their father Dominic, who would make all decisions regarding the company’s operations, and that his alleged links to members of organized crime may throw up a number of questions.
Ariane and Laurence Perrier deny everything and qualify these fabric claims as lies.
With camping season starting in two and a half months, campground managers at Havana Resort are hoping the appeals process won’t drag on, since campers without an alcohol license have no right to consume alcoholic beverages off their property.