Some Lower Mainland restaurants and bars are sending staff as far away as the Fraser Valley in search of specific products because of the public-sector strike that has shut down the province’s liquor distribution and half of provincial liquor stores.

According to Bo Chen with B.C.’s Alliance of Beverage Licensees, many in the hospitality industry are “rolling up their sleeves even further to really make sure that they can keep their businesses going, keep their staff still employed, and just keep everything still running very smoothly.”

“It’s challenging having to make so many different pivots,” he said, adding that some are even driving up to the western edges of the Okanagan to restock specialty items unavailable nearby.

“It’s nice to see that the industry has been pretty resilient an

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