Ontario Golf Club Charged in Crash

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Are you friggin' kidding me?  13 weren't even there that day??

Once again our legal system shows what a gutless spineless piece of trash it is.  The only reason that the Govt. is going after these people is that they are "soft" targets, just normal working folk and that equals easy convictions or I'll pay the money deals.

They wouldn't go after hardened criminals like this. Some jerk-off sitting in a nice cushy building in Orilla or on Grovensers Road might have to actually make a call against actual bad people.

I'm pissed................



http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090112.wdrunkeness0112/BNStory/National/home
Ontario golf club charged in fatal crash

TIMOTHY APPLEBY AND JOSH WINGROVE
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

January 12, 2009 at 10:04 PM EST

The fallout from an infamous Muskoka crash last summer that killed three young men and prompted sweeping changes to provincial driving laws continued yesterday as 16 staff members, managers and executives of a golf club were charged with serving the victims too much alcohol.

On July 3, Tyler Mulcahy, 20, his two friends and girlfriend left Water's Edge restaurant at Muskoka's posh Lake Joseph Club golf course. Mr. Mulcahy's father, citing police information, has said the group had 31 drinks in a few hours.
Soon after leaving, the young man's Audi lost control and flew off a winding road, landing in the Joseph River. Mr. Mulcahy and two others died. Police said speed and alcohol were factors.

The deaths prompted changes to Ontario's laws for young drivers. Now, ClubLink Corporation, which runs the Lake Joseph club, and many of its staff and directors each face two charges.
"The take-home message is that we take these types of breaches seriously," said Ontario Provincial Police Inspector Ed Medved, who heads the Bracebridge detachment investigating the crash. "You can't just go out and sell drinks to people without consequences, the law is quite clear on that."

Toronto Liquor licensing lawyer J. Randall Barr said such cases are serious, but not uncommon, and rest upon whether the golf club knowingly over-served the group, and allowed them to drive away.
"Basically, what [the defendants] have to do is establish that there's no negligence, and that's going to be something difficult for these people," Mr. Barr said.

The King-City based ClubLink Corporation and the 16 accused will now each face both an Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario review and provincial court proceedings.
The 16 accused — just three of whom were working at the restaurant that day — are due in court in Bracebridge, Ont., later this month. They're charged with supplying liquor to people who are apparently intoxicated and permitting drunkenness on a licensed premises, a lesser charge.
"The provincial prosecutor … wanted to make sure no one was missed," Insp. Medved said.

The AGCO can now choose to suspend the liquor license of the Lake Joseph Club immediately pending an upcoming hearing.
Scott Davidson, ClubLink's vice-president of corporate relations, who is among the 16 accused, said yesterday that on the advice of its lawyers, the company would make no comment.
Police and the AGCO have access to toxicology reports on Mr. Mulcahy and the two other men, Cory Mintz, 20, and Kourosh Totonchian, 19, including blood-alcohol levels that have never been made public. Evidence may also include testimony from the lone survivor, 19-year-old Inez Elzinga.

Beyond saying that "there were quite a few drinks consumed," Insp. Medved would not comment yesterday on how much alcohol was involved.
Mr. Barr, an expert who has not been retained by any of the parties in this case, said the club could be held responsible if it's proven that its staff willingly continued to serve the young people despite possible signs that they were becoming intoxicated.
"They [the defendants] may have a very tough case here, because there may be some very strong forensic evidence in play, that you often don't have," he said. "Once they do an autopsy, basically the alcohol in the blood of these boys is frozen in time..."

Although the Liquor Licence Act charges are not criminal in nature, they can result in hefty penalties.
In this instance, ClubLink faces fines of up to $250,000 on each of its two counts, if convicted, while the 16 individuals could be fined up to $100,000 each, and/or receive sentences of 12 months in jail.
More important to the company is the prospect of the AGCO applying to suspend or revoke the posh club's liquor license, Mr. Barr said. Set amid thick forest and granite rock, the Lake Joseph Club was hailed in 1997 as the best new golf course of the year.
After the crash, Tim Mulcahy, Tyler's father, campaigned to persuade the Ontario government to tighten laws for young people around speeding and drunk driving. He said publicly that he didn't know his son had previously received speeding tickets, and that had he been more severely punished for them, he wouldn't have been driving that July day.

Mr. Mulcahy set up a website in his son's name, and paid tens of thousands of dollars to take out advertisements.
Late last fall, Mr. McGuinty pointed to the crash in introducing the tougher legislation. Among other things, Ontario's proposed changes will impose zero-tolerance rules for alcohol on any driver aged 21 or under, and under a new graduated licensing scheme would also increase the time it would take to obtain a full licence.
Tim Mulcahy, reacting to the charges last night, said liquor license laws are just "asking other people to enforce laws… who are not police," and that "it looks like the OPP want to set a precedent."

He's hopeful the changes he fought for will save lives.
"I haven't pushed for [charges] in any way, shape or form... I'm not looking for blood," he said. "I never really felt that anyone was responsible except Tyler."

 

[PMedMoe]

Soon after leaving, the young man's Audi lost control and flew off a winding road, landing in the Joseph River. Mr. Mulcahy and two others died.

This sentence could have been better worded by the writer:

Soon after leaving, the young man lost control of his Audi and flew off a winding road, landing in the Joseph River. Mr. Mulcahy and two others died.

After all, the car wasn't driving itself.  :

Bruce, I agree with you.  People need to take responsibility for their own actions.

 

[kincanucks]

Totally agree that asshats that choose to drink and drive and kill themselves and others should be held responsible for their own actions.  However, part of the problem lies in the ability for these asshats to get alcohol even after they are clearly intoxicated.  If the establishments, bars and other alcohol vendors continue to serve someone, who is obviously intoxicated, alcohol then they are partly responsible for the actions of said asshats, even after the asshats leave the premises.  As for charging people who weren't there perhaps they were involved in the setting of regulations for serving alcohol.  Establishments must have clear regulations for their employees to follow when dealing with the serving of alcohol and employees must be fully supported by management when they decide that a certain assshat has had enough to drink.  Video surveillance of drinking establishments would also assist in the determination of an asshat's behaviour in order to determine if the establishment should have reasonably determined that a person has had enough to drink, in case they lose count of number of drinks served.

My .02.

 

[TCBF]

- The Democratic People's Republik of Ontario strikes again.

 

[Journeyman]

Police said speed and alcohol were factors

Well, if 13 non-present bar staff are being charged for providing the alcohol factor, then clearly the CEO of Audi and all of those assembly-line workers are equally responsible for providing too fast of a vehicle in this situation.

Gee, I hope we don't run out of lawyers!   :

 

[CountDC]

As a past bar tender I hate that they put the blame on the establishment and its staff.  I learned it is really hard for the staff to monitor someones drinking.  If you cut someone off and refuse to sell to them they just get someone else to buy for them.  You also have no idea of what they consummed prior to entering your establishment (me and a buddy used to have a 40 before hitting the bars - hows the bar responsible??) With a large crowd (Liquor Dome in Halifax) it is pretty hard to monitor everyone.  People have to be held accountable for their own actions and stop blaming everyone else.  Everyone knows if you drink you get drunk you shouldn't drive - make alternative arrangements before you have a drink.  Let's also face reality - that is the main reason young people are drinking - to get drunk.  If they can make the choice to get drunk they can make the choice not to drive.  Bloody hell - I am so tired of the "not my fault" society we have now. Drunks are the servers fault, hiway 101 is a killler, 18 year olds don't know better, I spilled my coffee is Timmies fault, 15 pax vans should be banned, etc etc etc.

When I was 5  I ran into the road and was hit by a car - almost killed me.  My mother didn't sue the driver, when I got out of the hospital over a month later she told me to pay attention to what I was doing and make sure no cars were coming.  She put the blame where it belonged - with me. I was the idiot that did something I knew I shouldn't have done, and yes at 5 I knew better.

 

[OldSolduer]

Personal responsibility is gone.
No one is held accountable for their actions, only those who are left vulnerable.

"Its not MY fault, they served me too much and allowed me to drive"

They did not ALLOW this young man to drive, HE made that decision himself.

Much easier to blame the bartenders and club ownership.

 

[CountDC]

Found this poll on line (http://cnews.canoe.ca/) while reading the news while waiting for an answer on the phone:

Who do you think is most responsible for the tragic drunk driving deaths at Lake Joseph in Ontario last summer?

The bar that served them alcohol  5%
The driver  40%
Everyone who got into the car  51%
Our society is to blame  4%
No one is to blame  1%
 
Total Votes for this Question: 2856 

 

[xo31@711ret]

Bruce, I couldn't agree more. When do we start taking responsibility for ourselves again?
Kids can (in some places) no longer swim at the 'ol swimming hole' or play ball in 'the vacant lot'. Municipaliites, cities, small towns,  are posting 'KEEP OUT' or fencing  places for fear of getting sued if someone gets injured.
For example, a neighbour with a stream running his property personally dug out and sanded a wading area for us kids to go and enjoy. He seeded one side of the bank for us to play and enjoy ourselves. This was in the early to mid 70's.
Aoubt 10 years or more, he put a stop to it because of a fear of getting sued if someone got injured.
Maybe it's just me reminicing (or just synical) but it saddens at times to me to think what we and especially our children are missing.

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090114.wlicence14/BNStory/National/home
Liquor-licence charges 'overreaching'
Decision to charge golf club's board of directors in drunk driving crash seems a bit much, experts say

TIMOTHY APPLEBY

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
January 14, 2009 at 5:02 AM EST

Prosecutorial overkill: Through the eyes of several seasoned observers of Ontario's liquor-licensing laws, that's the view of the decision to charge 16 people and a high-end golf-club corporation in a cottage-country drunk-driving tragedy last summer that cost three young lives.

"As far as I know, nothing of this magnitude has ever been done before," said Vic Miller, who as founder and owner of the Bartending School of Ontario has been in the booze business for 36 of his 55 years.
"I think they're trying to create a precedent."

Lawyer Randall Barrs, a veteran of court battles involving the provincial Liquor Licence Act, said much the same.
"This sounds like a bit of overreaching," he said of the 34 charges laid under the act by Ontario Provincial Police.
Killed in the high-speed car crash last July were Torontonians Tyler Mulcahy and Cory Mintz, both 20, and Kourosh Totonchian, 19, as they and Mr. Mulcahy's girlfriend drove away from a three-hour drinking bout at the Lake Joseph Golf Club in Muskoka Lakes township.

The scope of the charges announced Monday, however, appears to have no precedent.
Three of the 16 charged with permitting drunkenness on a licensed premises and with supplying liquor to an apparently drunk person were working at the golf club's Water's Edge restaurant that afternoon; two were bar staff, the third was the restaurant manager.

Facing the same charges is ClubLink Corporation, which is based in King City and owns and operates dozens of golf courses.
But the other 13 individuals belong to ClubLink's board of directors, none of whom were apparently anywhere near Lake Joseph the day of the crash.
While the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario regulates the province's 18,000-plus licensed establishments, and in a typical year closes between 300 and 400 for various periods, laying charges is a police matter.

And there's nothing unusual about holding corporation executives accountable when junior employees are accused of violating liquor laws, said Prof. Robert Solomon, a member of the University of Western Ontario's law faculty who specializes in alcohol and drug legislation.
But targeting a company's board of directors - all of whom face substantial fines and/or imprisonment under the liquor act - appears to break new ground.

There was no immediate insight yesterday from authorities as to why ClubLink's board of directors are all jointly accused.
Constable Maureen Tilson of the OPP's detachment in Bracebridge, where the charges were laid, referred inquiries to Barrie-based provincial prosecutor Carol Mitchell.
Ms. Mitchell's voicemail yesterday stated she was out of the office and would not return calls before Jan. 20.

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Folks, I also modified/removed a few posts. The families of these young men have suffered greatly and don't deserve more grief.

They have admitted that it was their children who made the mistakes and are conducting themselves with far more class than our sad "justice" system.

Thanks,
Bruce

 

[geo]

FWIW, a lot of analysts are saying that the Prosecution is going to have one hell of a fight on it's hands - proving intent.

#1 users should be held responsible for their acts
#2 people who agree to get into the car should be held responsible for their pi$$ poor decision to let the drunk drive
#3 The Barman/waiter/manager AKA the staff on duty who dispensed the booze should share "some" responsibility for their acts
Beyond that.... it's a reach.... a very long reach

 

[ArmyRick]

I think the feeling is the same everywhere, people need to take responsibility, end story.

 

[geo]

I know that when I make plans to go out & have a couple of drinks... I swing by the house & leave the car there
If the decision is "on impulse"... I leave the car there & make a point of coming back early the next morning... I also leave a small sign on my dash that tells the officer that I was drunk - But I was not that drunk.

 

[helpup]

Ah but we have an entire generation that has been " conditioned" to entitlements and a belief that it is never their fault when something goes wrong somehow they were failed by others.  If you don't teach responsibility at home and school then we cant really expect it. ( to add I am not suggesting that those involved were never taught at home as kids by their nature will push boundaries and have a feeling of invincibility) in my mind the moment someone DECIDES to have a drink he or she is responsible for their actions from that point on. Bar staff can be expected to monitor those who are out of control or doing something stupid in that establishment but other then that no way.  Or if we are going that way why not up the ante and go after the makers of the alcohol since if it wasn't available.....................

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Now if this is true then this would pretty much confirm to me that the charges came from "above" and the OPP and the Crown Attorney's office are just mouthing the words and moving their limbs whenever someone in Queens Park pulls a string as, IMO, neither of those institutions would screw it up that bad.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2009/01/14/8023841.html
Thursday, January 15, 2009
By THE CANADIAN PRESS

Last Updated: 14th January 2009, 2:40pm

Two people among the 16 facing liquor licence charges related to the deaths of three young men near an Ontario resort were not working for the company when the incident occurred.
A spokesman for Clublink Corp., which runs Lake Joseph Club in Port Carling, Ont., confirms that vice-presidents Jim Molenhuis and Murray Blair had left the organization by December 2007.

The two, along with 13 directors, a beverage manager and two bartenders, face 34 charges for allegedly permitting drunkenness and supplying alcohol to intoxicated individuals.
Police have said alcohol and speed were definite factors in the July 3, 2008 crash that killed Tyler Mulcahy, 20, Cory Mintz, 20, and Kourosh Totonchian, 19 — deaths that followed what one victim’s father characterized as copious drinking at the posh Muskoka club.
Scott Davidson, Clublink’s vice-president of corporate operations, who is among those charged, said he believes the charges against the former executives were laid in error by someone retrieving names from the club’s outdated 2007 liquor licence.

A spokeswoman for the Bracebridge, Ont., detachment of the provincial police, the force that laid the charges, said while she’s unaware of the exact details of the investigation, charges were warranted.
A spokesman for the Crown attorney’s office declined comment.

 

[mariomike]

"Why surviving a crash is the easy part"
Nastasia Elzinga, 20, says she has lost a year since July 2008's fatal crash.
It's been one year since a horrific Muskoka crash claimed three friends and Nastasia's torment began
Jun 28, 2009 04:30 AM
Tracy Nesdoly
SPECIAL TO THE STAR

Nastasia Inez Elzinga survived. But she hasn't recovered from the accident that claimed her close friend Tyler Mulcahy, 20, and his pals Cory Mintz, 20, and Kourosh Totonchian, 19, on that gorgeous summer day, July 3, 2008.

The crash dominated headlines last summer: three wealthy, successful, bright and gifted boys killed in a senseless crash when the car – driven by Mulcahy and carrying Elzinga, too, as a passenger – careened off the road and into the Joseph River in Muskoka. A tree was severed, the guardrail was ripped from the road, and the car landed upside down in the water. Elzinga regained consciousness, and in a split second was able to push herself out of the car and swim to shore. The boys all drowned.

Why did she live and not the others? Why did she get in the car? Why didn't any of them think to say, "Hey, wait a minute" or "Tyler, slow down a bit"? These are the questions that torment Elzinga's days. Her nights are filled with nightmares that leave her petrified.

Much has been revealed and much has changed since that sunny day in Muskoka when, for her and her friends, life just couldn't get any better – the weather was great, the location was stunning, and they were young, beautiful and invincible.

What has become clear is there were many more drinks consumed at the Water's Edge café than originally admitted. Mulcahy's father, Tim, who received a copy of the police report, told media there were 31 drinks on the bar bill, consumed over a matter of hours. Many more lives have been altered – the bartender and servers all face charges, as do the officers of the corporation, ClubLink, that owns the property where the four were partying.

Working with the Ontario Alcohol and Gaming Commission, provincial police in Bracebridge laid 34 Liquor Licence Act charges against 16 people, related to allowing drunkenness on licensed premises and supplying liquor to an apparently intoxicated person. The maximum penalty for a corporation if convicted is a $250,000 fine; an individual would be fined a maximum $100,000, or be imprisoned up to a year, or both. The case returns to court for a pre-trial hearing on July 17.

For the boys' friends and family, it has been a year of intense grief and the recognition that all the benefits and opportunities in the world still can't protect you from bad decisions.

But mostly it has been a year of sadness.

"A friend and I spent months and months hashing it out, talking about why," says Mulcahy's best friend, Alex Paquin. "Something like this (accident) happens to every age group; I just couldn't believe it happened to him."

Paquin has made a commitment to himself to always remember his friend.

"I miss him. This is the first summer that he's not here. I keep thinking he'll come banging on my front door in the morning, telling me to get up so we can go golfing... He was the best guy ever; I feel sorry for anyone who didn't get to meet him."

He says Mulcahy's words still echo in his head. "He was a force of nature. He was a power. I find a lot of motivation in the things I learned from him.

"He was always about hard work and focus – as much as he could, he wanted to make the most out of every minute. He wanted to do everything; he wanted to conquer the world."

Mulcahy's drive and motivation are what pushed Paquin to start his own successful business in landscaping. "I really wish he could have seen this," says Paquin. "We've worked hard, but his words got us further than we would have gotten."

Making sense of the tragedy is a unique quest for everyone who knew the victims. One of Mulcahy's sisters, 18-year-old Chanel, has focused on being the great girl he wanted her to be – she tested her mettle in Outward Bound, and is doing volunteer work and taking classes.

For Tyler's father, Tim, who provided the Audi his son was driving that day, it has meant lobbying the province to change the laws for young drivers. Specifically, he wanted to see the revocation of a driver's licence for anyone under 21 caught speeding or with alcohol in their system.

The new legislation will take effect in 2010, and includes implementing a zero blood-alcohol concentration level for all drivers 21 years of age and younger, tougher fines and allowing police to impound a car for seven days if drivers are caught speeding or drinking.

For Elzinga, 20, known to her friends as "Stazz," it has been a lost year, one she may never get over.

"I was in shock for four months," says the young Toronto woman. "I didn't start grieving until Christmas. For four months I was just, `I'm fine, everything's great, I'm so happy to be alive.'"

She spent last fall in Montreal, attending McGill University. "I felt like an alien; I wasn't like any other first-year student. I had been through a horrible ordeal and I couldn't do it."

By the end of the first semester it was clear – she wasn't cutting it at all. The final moment came in November, when she was leading a seminar on a poem about lost love and dying – she can't remember its name.

"I left – I went into the hallway and started crying – and when I returned the prof was leading the discussion. After the class he told me I hadn't done the job I was supposed to; he said basically that I'd failed, and that's when I rebelled. I said, 'That's it, I'm done with this course.' And I pulled out of school.

"My program was intense, mostly religion and philosophy, and it was horrible – it was months of talking about death and the meaning of death every single day. I'd listen to these 18-year-olds talk about losing their grandmother, and it was sad, sure, but I thought, 'You have no idea.' "

She took a medical leave from school, but quitting meant structure fell out of her day. "It's all a blank to me, from January to about now. I went a little crazy."

Elzinga can barely travel by car now – "I was in a car with my dad, I trust my dad, but I can't travel in cars."

A strong swimmer who was frolicking with dolphins at the age of 5, she has difficulty going in the water. "I tried to swim today, I was able to swim this morning with my dad standing by the pool saying, `You can do it.'" She has nightmares about dying every night. "I wake up shaking and terrified, and every single day I go over that day, I think about what happened; it is in my mind all the time, every day.

"I'm mad at myself. I'm mad at Tyler – he was so smart, he had such great judgment. I want to scream at him, 'Why did you get in the car?' I'm mad at the bartender for serving us. Why was he making shots and martinis? Why didn't he know we were over-served and we would be driving? I am mad at all of us. We stumbled out of there – someone should have said something."

But in Muskoka there's little choice. There are no cabs to pick up drunken partiers. You drive home or you don't go home.

And then there is the survivor's guilt. "It was the worst thing that can happen, and it happened times three," Elzinga says. "Why was I so lucky? Why was I meant to live? What is the purpose?

"Whenever people who know me see me, they come up and say, `You're so strong,' and I don't want to keep hearing that. I want to go out and not be the person who was in an accident, who made a poor choice but got lucky that day."
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/657877

 

[old medic]

But in Muskoka there's little choice. There are no cabs to pick up drunken partiers. You drive home or you don't go home.

WOW.  Thanks Toronto Star.  We've been wasting all that public education money on designated drivers and calling someone for a ride.

 

[mariomike]

Update:
Charges dropped against Muskoka club executives: Charges have been withdrawn against 11 Clublink employees charged after the deaths in Muskoka of three young Toronto men, the Bracebridge Examiner reported Thursday."
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2009/11/06/muskoka-deaths.html

 

[mariomike]

Today's paper:
"Lake Joseph Club fined $62,500 for role in fatal cottage country accident":
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/791489--lake-joseph-club-fined-62-500-for-role-in-fatal-cottage-country-accident

In addition:
"The 45-day liquor licence suspension will apply to the entire Lake Joseph Club property, not just its restaurant, which is located on the premises. The suspension is to start at 11 a.m., June 1, 2010 and continue until 2 a.m. on July 16, 2010."

National Post yesterday reported:
"Earlier this year, ClubLink was handed a 45-day suspension of the liquor licence linked to the tragedy. That suspension will come into effect on June 1, purposefully timed to hit the peak of the club’s busy season."