The first roadblock was quick to rear its head. Amidst building the brew pub, they realized that Territorial Gov- ernment legislation was creating administrative road blocks and hurdles. “The liquor laws up here are sensitive areas to deal with. There are lots of social issues surrounding liquor and dry communities in the areas around the bar. So the Territorial Government is very protective about it’s liquor legislation… We actually had to convince them that we weren’t a distillery. And we also had to convince the municipal government that our equipment wasn’t going to explode! We had to educate them on the whole process.” Fletcher and Miranda’s efforts actually did get legislation changed. And not in any insignificant way either. “We used to have the highest liquor tax in Canada. It was $2.22/litre flat rate. So we had to pretty much re-write legislation. But before we received confirmation that tax legislation would be changed, we had already taken the plunge with both feet. So we were just riding on the hope that people would continue to fight for us and bring the tax rates down. And also to allow us to sell our growlers directly to customers, rather than having to go through a liquor warehouse.” It was a stressful time in the Stevens’ household. They were overseeing the building and Renovation of a brew pub, without actually knowing if legislation would allow them to operate in a way that would make it an economically feasible venture. Trailblazing can be thankless and frustrating work, as they were finding out. Even the liquor licensing process had twisted aspects to it that were unique to their remote location. “It was a cart-before- the-horse situation. We had to build the brewery, we had to be able to produce beer that could be sent out and tested before they would give us a license. But in order to brew beer, we needed to have a license. So as we were soaking all this money into the brew pub, we didn’t even know if we were going to be awarded a license to manufacture beer.” “Eliminate, automate and delegate.” It was a testament to their patience and tenacity that the Stevens made it through the hoops and eventually were awarded their license. Nevertheless, the problems didn’t end there. When they finally opened their doors to the public, they were serving guest beer rather than their own craft beer because their American-made brewing equipment didn’t pass Canadian certification standards. But at this point, NWT Brewing Co. had to make money. The financial reserves were running dry and the doors had to swing open for business as a matter of mere survival. The good news is that they did survive, and in an act of defiance, they brewed an anniversary red beer and called it “Evil Red Tape Ale.”
Fletcher explains that the bar and restaurant scene in Yel- lowknife is actually experiencing a modest upswing. “The
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JANUARY 2018 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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