In spring, we stumbled across the Paddlewheeler Pub, which is located directly on the Fraser River in New Westminster. They had a large outdoor area and an extensive menu that even included desserts, which is not always the case here. The food wasn’t bad – the highlight was a dessert called panookie: a hot cookie with a liquid chocolate center served in a small pan.

They also featured regular live music – behind me in the picture you can see some musicians playing in the restaurant. The restaurant could have been a bit cleaner though: the windows, the table and the glasses didn’t look that clean, but I tried not to pay so much attention to it (I immediately thought of virologist Drosten’s statement that he only drinks beer from the bottle for hygienic reasons).

Anyway, we walked by the Paddlewheeler Pub again the other day and were surprised to see that it was closed for good. After 37 years! The local press only quotes a facebook post by the owner, who claims that they had to close due to inflation and high governmental taxes. I am not so sure that this is entirely true with high governmental taxes…

On the restaurant’s door there is a notice saying that the tenant owes the landlord over 51,000 Canadian dollars in rent and that’s why the restaurant is closed (the custom of sticking this note on the door is surprising to me).

People on Reddit are also saying that the taxes for businesses are here not too much and that this would just be an excuse. Unfortunately, I can’t find any other articles that say more about the closure of the pub, which is also a bit sad. I mean, why do local journalists not cover the closure of a local pub that has been here for decades?