Photo: Facebook - Kettle Valley Liquor Store

A Kelowna liquor store will be closed for seven days after an employee sold alcohol to a minor.

A Kelowna liquor store will be closed for seven days next month after selling a six-pack of alcohol to an underage person.

In a decision made earlier this month, the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch ruled that the Kettle Valley Liquor Store in Kelowna's Kettle Valley area contravened the Liquor Control and Licensing Act when an employee sold the six-pack to a minor just before 9 p.m. on Dec. 11, 2024.

The incident occurred as part of the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch's Minors as Agents Program, where young people are used to test a store's willingness to sell alcohol to a minor.

The employee said he was in a hurry when he made the sale, as the store was closing at the time. He said he made an honest mistake, as the minor appeared older.

The employee was fired as a result of the mistake.

While the liquor store did not dispute that the incident occurred, a licensee can rely on a defence of “due diligence.”

In the decision, the general manager of the LCRB said the liquor store “had implemented adequate training and other systems in place to prevent the contravention of selling liquor to a minor,” but noted there was no evidence of ongoing training about ID issues.

As such, the due diligence defence was dismissed.

As this was Kettle Valley Liquor Store's first contravention of the Liquor Control and Licensing Act, the store faced a minimum penalty of $7,000 or seven day licence suspension.

Given the size of the store's market, the licensee said the fine would be “excessively punitive,” and opted instead for the licence suspension. The store's licence will be suspended for seven days, beginning May 15.