7 News Belize

Life’s Hardly A Breeze For Canadian Bar Owner
posted (February 17, 2011)
Daniel Brisebois is the proprietor of a bar called Club Planet on Queen Street. He's been running the place for four years, but has now run afoul of the city council because he refuses to pay a trade license fee on top of his liquor license fee.

The City Council took him to court for non-payment where Brisebois's attorney, Said Musa successfully argued that only the liquor license has to be paid.

But, Brisebois said the council would not permit that, and last Friday he claims the city's special constables invaded his planet like storm-troopers, which has left him wearing a sling, with a message:…

Jules Vasquez
"I see you have a sling on that says "Courtesy of Belize City Council Thug Squad Special Constables" why are you wearing this?"

Daniel Brisebois, Owner, Club Planet
"Well the Belize City Council and the police came into my place; they arrested me and put me in handcuffs after I just had surgery on my arm, after I told them that. They basically came into my club when it was closed, broke down the doors, seized all my liquor, put me in handcuffs, roughed up a few of my staff and the left and haven't charged us since and won't return our property."

Jules Vasquez
"But they will argue it's right that they should have because you didn't have a valid trade license, you didn't have a license to be in business."

Daniel Brisebois, Owner, Club Planet
"Well this is the whole stem of the issue is the trade licensing. They told me straight out that they won't be going to give me a liquor license until I pay the trade license. But the laws of Belize state very clearly - and we won this in court just last Monday - that if you have a liquor license and you only sell liquor you do not need to have a trade license. It's basically a shop license. Listen I worked as an investigator for 15 years in Canada and I've been to every town council from the biggest city of Toronto all the way down to the smallest rural town and I have never seen such incompetence and a bunch a children as I have at this city council. These guys just make up the rules as they go along and that's the problem, they are disregarding the laws of Belize totally, they got vendors sleeping on the street to protect their stalls from their thug squad that is coming around and harassing everybody. This is their last year in power, I think they know it and they just grabbing all the money they can."

According to Deputy Mayor Phillip Willoughby there's a long history between the council and Brisebois. Willoughby says Brisebois continued to operate outside the law without a license and the council had to do what it had to do when it confiscated his liquor.

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