TIME FOR CITY LICENSING COMMITTEE TO LEAVE THE BUBBLE

It was called Up in Smoke Cafe.

On its business licence application, it was described as "a cannabis
cafe."

Even before it opened, owner Chris Goodwin told everyone within
earshot -- police, politicians, the media, business owners -- that his
customers would be invited to smoke pot in his shop.

There were dozens upon dozens of stories in the media about the pot
palace. Many of them chronicled the pot-related arrests and
convictions of its patrons, staff and owner.

And yet, here's what the city's director of building and licensing,
Tom Redmond, said to me yesterday: The licensing department issued the
licence, renewed the licence and did nothing to review the licence in
the two years Up in Smoke operated because it didn't know there was
illegal activity going on there. Pardon me?

Does the licensing department exist inside a great big soundproof
bubble at City Hall?

My goodness, to celebrate Canabian Day last August, Goodwin handed out
300 joints at Up in Smoke and filled pipes and bongs on the condition
users smoked the weed at the celebratory pot rally -- which took place
right in front of City Hall.

Didn't Redmond know about that?

Our interview came about two weeks after I wrote a column saying that
the city should never have granted Up in Smoke its licence in the
first place and that it missed many opportunities to revoke it after
the fact.

Unfortunately, that column was written without any comments from the
city. As I noted then, I tried for two days to get someone to talk to
me, but nobody did.

Many others were eager to talk, though. The International Village BIA,
the police, even Goodwin himself all wondered how the hell he got a
business licence.

Now you can add a criminal court judge to that list.

In his courtroom on Tuesday, Justice Anton Zuraw said Up in Smoke Cafe
was, "no hidey hole for persons to indulge their secret vices. This
was a highly publicized, in-your-face operation, duly licensed by the
City of Hamilton," which was "more than surprising." It was clear from
the start, Zuraw said, what kind of business this was.

Zuraw sentenced Goodwin to three and a half months in jail, over and
above the 38 days he has already served, after the pot crusader and
entrepreneur pleaded guilty to five charges: possession of cannabis
resin, possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, selling
or distributing drug paraphernalia, breach of bail conditions and
promoting the sale of various items used in the consumption of marijuana.

Still, Redmond says, "It is unfair to say staff dropped the
ball.

"Staff followed all procedures," he insists.

Well, there's following procedures and then there's blindly following
procedures.

Redmond says that when Goodwin opened his cafe, "we issued a licence
for him to eat -- not smoke dope."

Yes, Goodwin was issued a restaurant licence (he served coffee and
treats made from cannabis), but he said he was going to smoke dope.

"At what point do we start trampling over the rights of business
owners?" Redmond challenges.

Uhmm, maybe when their whole business is blatantly based on an illegal
activity. Maybe when police are going in and making 72 arrests. Or
when those arrested pleaded guilty in court.

Gosh, what more did the city need?

Redmond has an answer for that. What he needed, he says, was for
Hamilton police to tell him there was illegal activity taking place at
Up in Smoke Cafe.

Chief Brian Mullan says he is surprised to hear that.

"It was well documented. Councillors knew. It surprised me that
members of the city's licensing committee didn't know criminal
activity was occurring there."

It's time, Mr. Redmond, to leave the bubble.