Inuvik council votes No to Mad Trapper Sunday openings
'It's a day that people sobered up and got back with their families'
People in the public gallery broke into applause last night as Inuvik town councillors voted No to allowing the Mad Trapper to sell liquor on Sundays.
The owner of the Mad Trapper wanted council's approval to expand to a seven-day-a-week operation, but council rejected that bid, as well as a subsequent request to open 30 Sundays out of the year.
All six councillors gathered at last night's meeting voted "no," including Coun. Clarence Wood, who had earlier said he didn't want the town to be a "moral babysitter."
He said he changed his vote to reflect the majority view of the town's resident.
Counc. Vince Sharpe was an early opponent of the request.
He said last night that he didn't want tourists coming to the town to see "the midnight sun and the midnight drunks."
Inuvik resident Norman Snow was at yesterday's vote.
"The most important reason is that it's a special day for most people," he said.
"I know for Christians it's a time to go to Church and for hunters it's a good day to go out.
"But most of all, with binge drinking being such a problem up here, it's a day that people sobered up and got back with their families."