I’m from Ontario and have been living here for a year. I loved a certain so-called restaurant up until yesterday, at which point I felt as though I had to grow a stache to justify my age. They insisted on carding us after 10pm, which would have been fine but apparently a government piece of photo ID from Ontario does not suffice. I realize it might be policy and that your job might be on the line but your policy absolutely sucks and it’s got to change if you want to keep business from any of us Ontario young-uns who happen to be living here… well, those who don’t have a license. Which makes no sense, they were willing to take an Ontario driver’s license if I had it but weren’t willing to take my Ontario health card. WTF… it’s the same province and the same government. And the health card clearly showed my photo and age. I’d dearly love to know what this province has against the Ontario health card. Nearly 28 years old, left feeling degraded by a place that I highly respected. Had gone in to have one meal and not even order any fricken alcohol! I wasn’t alone either so I ended up taking my friends with me. You not only lost my business and theirs, you’ll be losing that of anyone else who I happen to talk to. I’d love to even know how it’s possible for anybody from Ontario (or any other province for that matter) to get their alcohol here if they don’t have a license. Keep in mind I didn’t even want it! Until you change your policy, I certainly won’t be bringing any visitors there… felt like a bloody fool. Thanks for that. By the way, I enjoyed the same meal for less than half the price down the street after I left. Guess it was for the best after all! —Soon to Spread the Word
This article appears in Nov 24-30, 2011.
Daaah go back to Sudbury or Sous Sainte Marie or wherever your uppity-Canadian (see what I did there?) self entitled arse came from! You wanna live in NS, get NS ID. They cost 14 bucks. I’ve been refused service before when I was out of province with my NS ID. Liquor inspectors don’t play. That’s why the policy.
I’m kinda half joking, I got nothing against so called “upper Canadians” but just go get an ID card at Access Nova Scotia and save yourself the trouble.
Take it up with the Liquor board. they’re the ones who set the policy, and I doubt a restaurant is going to put their liquor license on the line for a guy and his friends from Ontario.
Ontario health cards are apparently really easy to duplicate, so that’s why they won’t take them.
And get yourself a passport. That’s how A LOT of students from Ontario who don’t have licenses get their liquor.
Really, though, your anger is misdirected — like I said — a restaurant isn’t going to risk their license because you don’t have proper ID.
Oh and maybe NS doesn’t take Ontario health cards because ours don’t have our pictures on them? Health cards in NS aren’t acceptable for government ID in most places serving alcohol, so maybe it’s a blanket policy?
In any event, chill the fuck out and bring your passport if it’s that important.
OB you should have been here last year .
You couldn’t even see alcohol in the liquor stores. You had to go in, know what you wanted, order it & wait for the attendant to go get it for you.
And you had to have a special piece of ID that was only issued to those of age who drank alcohol, after you went through a process, to acquire it ( I guess so the Pov Gov could keep a special eye on us)
Or was that a couple of years ago ? ?? ?
My minds been getting fuzzy & losing details, such as the passage of time as it ages …must be the booze !
Tommy — if this person is a student they can’t get an NS ID…. but, if they’re not their OHIP card is expired anyway — you have 3-4 months I think and then you have to get a health card from the province you’re living in.
Unless you’re a student, which means you aren’t a “resident.”
Maybe it wasn’t entirely the lack of ID……..it may have been YOU and your friends they did not want at the establishment. WE try and keep “like with like” around here and obviously you are not cool enough so, fuck ya, not allowed to let you in and spoil the fun for everyone else.
Really? I thought if you had an address you could get an ID. They can get their drivers license here can’t they? I’m sure you know what you’re talking about.
What else are they supposed to do? I wouldn’t carry a damn passport around with me. A NS health card wouldn’t help them in this case.
Another thing. How does anyone know they’re a student? Can’t they go to Access NS and just lie?
I’m not saying this precludes the OB from being a student but they DID say they were 28, which is not typically an age one would think of when you hear the word ‘student’. (IDK *shrug*)
I’m a Nova Scotian and went to school in Ontario, and it seems to me that my friends from Ontario couldn’t use their health card as photo id in bars or at the LCBO either. If I understand correctly, a health card just straight up isn’t an accepted form of photo id.
Well, if they aren’t a student than they should’ve gotten a new health card by now. And a NS ID. Their OHIP card has looooooong since expired if this is the case.
Too much use of “Ontario’ in this bitch.
Y’know what is really funny? Most of my family lives in Ontario, and while I was aware of the antipathy between northern and southern Ontario, I had no idea Ontarionians (?) were so reviled in the Maritimes until I started to read the Coast.
survey says invalid bitch.
yep, doesn’t even give a hint or clue as to what place it is that has them riled up.
All I can say is that MODERN provinces allow government issued photo ID. I was once told at a liquor store halfway between Hfx and Truro that my military issued photo ID was no good because it could be faked…
So where is this place? Just in case I want to eat somewhere and be sure to not encounter any SET students from Ontario.
uh… hating on toronto and ontario isn’t just a maritime thing….
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nation…
Yeah, its not a maritime thing, its fuckin idiot redneck thing.
Wow. I too am a student from Ontario and I’m feeling some hate from Halifax. I believe the story is based on the fact that they were hungry and not thirsty. Also, health cards and the use of OHIP coverage can be extended in the case of being a student, even if you are at the age of 28. People are known to keep going through school without dropping out or fucking it up completely. There are schools all over Nova Scotia and yet there are so many dumb people here. Just some information for you fuckheads. And I think Nova Scotia is the best damn place ever! … Minus some big mouthed assholes.
I’m sure the ID thing is a little much but I’m sure there is something that could be done about eating at a place for food rather than buying booze.
P.S. It’s a place that involves facial hair in the name of their restaurant on Spring Garden.
Learn to read — we said “if he’s NOT a student.”
The only time OHIP coverage is valid past 3-4 months is when you are a student.
PK- I think you’ve mentioned attending Acadia in the past, yes? I went there as well, and wasn’t there some sort of scheme where kids would use OHIP to get fake IDs all the time? I can’t remember how it worked because I didn’t do it, but I know it happened *a lot*.
Maybe that’s why they didn’t want to take it?
The only good thing from Toronto was the band…
It would piss me off to be visiting another province and have my government issued ID rejected at a bar. That’s a stupid policy to only accept passports and NSID cards. As long as it has a photo a birthdate, and issued by any provincial authority it should be valid. What possible difference should it make that it’s an Ontario ID? Does this mean I have to carry 13 different ID’s to accommodate 10 provinces and 3 territories just to be able to drink in Canada? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, I would have told them to get bent too OB!!!
They accept driver’s licenses, SHITTY-D.
Ontario health cards are easy to fake as cannatell mentioned.
Big whoop, other provinces won’t recognize an easily-faked ID. Such an injustice.
My NS ID has always been accepted wherever I go because it’s not easily faked.
Bring a second form of ID next time. And don’t bring a bank card as ID — remember that bitch a few months ago where that twat was bitching because whatever bar DT wouldn’t take her debit card as ID?
HAHA.
RE: antipathy toward Ontarionians (Gosh, I’m cracking myself up with this term)
Now that’s just as wack as my U of T cousins thinking they live on the east coast.
Aren’t you (and they) forgetting….Montreal?
I moved here from Ontario in August and I had to pay for a brand new licence which cost about 75$ If i hadn’t been put on my Boyfriends Car Insurance I would have waited but in order to remain on the insurance i had to get a NS licence within 30 Days. Its not cheap to get a brand new licence…If i could have i would have stayed with my Ontario one for as long as i could.
Wah wah wah. Don’t like it OB, then get yourself the fuck back to Upper Canada.
Meh, I really don’t care, I have a drivers lisence and guess what? It’s a Nova Scotia one. You can “prove” me wrong if you want PK, IMO, it’s bullshit that someone who is 28 and showed a piece of govt ID got tossed out of a bar for no proof of age. I have never been trained in the intricate art of spotting underage patrons in a bar, but I bet if you put a 17 year old next to a 28 year old I’d be able to tell the difference. It’s more likely due to the fact that they went in, to get something to eat, close to the time the kitchen was closing that got them ID’d in the first place. The staff was likely looking for any reason to deny them service. Stupid people showing up at kitchen closing time and expecting food service is another bitch in itself.
I wasn’t trying to “prove [you] wrong,” I was merely adding to your point.
Nice chip on that shoulder of yours, bud.
Okay folks, untwist all those panties now…
The author of this bitch at no time said s/he was a student, so that debate was really for nothing. They say they are living here.
The restaurant has to ID after 10pm, due to liquor laws, fine. Whether they were going to eat or not is not the bouncer’s concern, minors are not allowed in liquor-serving establishments after 10pm.
Unless this person’s Ontario Health card is older than 4 years, it is a legally acceptable form of ID in Ontario. It is no longer easily faked, due to lots of new bells and whistles.
But, because it’s a health card, servers/bouncers/etc CANNOT ASK for the health card specifically, AND they are allowed to refuse it if they suspect the card, or the ID of the person.
I do speak from knowledge, as I’m a Haligonian living in Ottawa now, and I’ve taken a course called Smart Serve, which taught me WAY more than I needed to know about Ontario’s liquor laws. But I only left 2 years ago, so I still logged many years of good ole drinking back home in Hali.
The OB says they’ve been living here a year. He or she should have an MSI card (as his Ont card is invalid) and in order to get an MSI card he or she would need a valid NS Licence or ID card. Therefore the OB only has one person to blame – YOURSELF, you self-entitled twat. I wonder what he or she will do if they wind up in a hospital with no valid Ont or NS medical insurance. You’re 28, start acting like an adult and take care of your responsibilities.
If you’re 28 y.o., you shouldn’t need to present any card to get into a restaurant. I guess you’ll have to take your birth certificate with you. Besides there are plenty of eateries around Halifax besides the one you refer to.
I also think that if one is just eating, the ID thing is not necessary. I don’t believe any alcohol molecules floating in the air will affect you.
On a side note, another ass reference except it wasn’t spoken this time just inferred.
When you start your post with SHITTY-D, can you expect me to take your posts as anything but facetious?
“I’m from Toronto so you have to give me special treatment and ignore the rules given to you from your boss. Even if your boss fires you.”
I seriously don’t hate Toronto, but this is just too easy. And you don’t need to get a Nova Scotia driver’s license. The Identification card is cheaper and will be accepted wherever the license is accepted.
Maybe your anti- NDP and they all know yer from Ontario. You are aware that being anti- NDP is a crime in NS don’t you? The NDP bankrupt Ontario and NS is next. There’s not a valid ID (unless it’s a union ID) that’s valid in NS today. That’s why we don’t have pics on our unionized haelth cards!
One of my exs got kicked out of a bar because all he had was new Brunswick id. Don’t try to make this out to be some sort of upper versus lower Canada bs because it’s not. It’s likely that the place you went to has gotten fines and warnings from the liquor inspector before and would rather be a dick than risk their jobs and the ability to even serve alcohol.
I’ve visited licensed restaurants/bars/pubs in 7 provinces and 1 territory, and only in NS was I ever asked for ID when in my late 20s or early 30s (i.e. obviously above legal drinking age). The only place more backwards ID-wise that I’ve ever visited is Nebraska, where at the age of 24 I had to show my passport and fill out a form to order a beer with my pizza.
The fact that the OP is from Ontario (which generated the ever-entertaining “Fuck the rest of the world” comments) is irrelevant. The real question should be “why the fuck should I have to present ID to have a beer when I’m 28?”. Former Eastern Block countries are not as anal as this province when it comes to serving alcohol to foreigners. Think about it.
It’s policy to check the ID of anyone who looks 30 and younger
Stop hating on Halifax or Nova Scotia for that matter. I suggest you get your facts straight before posting a bitch. Ontario laws are the exact same way. For over a year now Ontario does not except out of province Id’s. I’ve gotten turned away multiple times and was told to get a passport. Needless to say, I made sure I had mine the next time I visited.
Um, you don’t need a driver’s license or Provincial ID to get aN MSI card. Check your facts Bro Tim. 😛
“When you start your post with SHITTY-D, can you expect me to take your posts as anything but facetious?”
Cheese and rice, pull that ham-sized wheelie fist out of your arse, dude. YOU’RE the one who picked a screen name that works out to “SHIT-D.” What else do you expect?
BTW: I got ID’d a few times in quebec and I was 28 at the time. lolz
BTWx2: Ontario is the only province in canada that won’t fill prescriptions made out of province. So let’s talk about that shit before we condemn NS for not taking shitty OHIP cards that are easy to duplicate as proof of age.
Oh no, I boo booed, string me up. It still doesn’t negate that in order to do certain things in this province (and other provinces also have their rules), you will need valid ID. Now if you don’t want to get one, that’s your choice but you will suffer the consequences.
Every Province has its flaws.. blah blah.. Plus coming from Ontario I know that the Health Card is NOT a Government issued Photo ID. Yes, it has a photo on it. Can be used for 2nd but not first. In the Bars in ontario under “Acceptable Forms of ID” list, no where does it say Health Card. So its up to you when you move to a different province to obtain a new form of Gov’t ID, and if you don’t then live with the consequences. If I was checking IDs at a club as a bouncer I would be a little cautious with out of provinces ID’s… To easy to get fake ones now a days. And also age doesn’t matter. My boyfriends 28 and he looks honestly 23/24….And he still gets ID!
Get over it.
People need to realize some things before they ‘bitch’.
‘Soon To Spread The Word’ that you can’t go to any Pub, Liquor Store, or Bar with an Ontario Health Card as your only valid piece of ID would be great.
Finally Ontario students and visitors will know that their Health Card is not valid, and we won’t have to deal with them complaining when it’s get rejected.
Don’t hate on a restaurant that follows their policy. Accept it and move on.
Complain to the Liquor inspectors.
Not The Coast.