Toronto police have significant concerns about a recent licence change that allows Rebel nightclub to entertain an additional 830 people at a time, following a double homicide, a shooting and dozens of assaults at Polson Pier in the last year.Rebel, at 11 Polson St. beside Cabana Pool Bar on Toronto’s eastern waterfront, can now hold a crowd of up to 4,565 people, according to a decision made last week by the Licence Appeal Tribunal. The Toronto police said they learned about the capacity increase when contacted by the Star.“It cannot be in the interest of public safety for Toronto Police Service to find out about this after it happened and yes we do have public safety concerns about what this could mean,” said police spokesperson Mark Pugash. Charles Khabouth, part owner of Powerhouse Corp., the company that applied for the expansion and liquor licence and operates the entertainment complex, did not respond to requests for comment. Powerhouse lawyer Richard Kulis also didn’t respond.In the parking lot of Rebel last October, two men in their 20s were shot dead. Later, police charged two men with second-degree murder. During a concert at Rebel in December 2016, police responded to six suspected overdoses, one of them fatal. Other clubgoers who may have overdosed declined treatment and refused to answer questions, hampering investigative efforts, the Star reported. Less than six months later, police received calls for three other suspected overdoses at Rebel. So far this year, 60 reported incidents have occurred in Rebel or nearby on Polson St., including a shooting outside that left a man injured in June and more than 40 assaults and half a dozen sexual violations and car thefts, according to police data. Police already put “significant resources” toward addressing incidents in and around Rebel, which is why they’re particularly concerned by the increase in capacity, said Pugash. “Our job remains the same, which is ...
|
