William Donnellan has operated bars and pubs in two countries and weathered regulatory changes and a global pandemic. But he says the current BCGEU strike could be the crisis that breaks B.C.’s hospitality industry.

The CEO of the Vancouver-based IRL Group, which operates seven food and drink establishments across the region, stood in one of his own locations Friday and laid it out: For the past few weeks, his locations have had no vodka, no gin, no whisky. Now, they have no Guinness.

“Half-a-million dollars in kegs of Guinness we ordered are stuck at the port, and we couldn’t get a signature to get them released,” Donnellan said. “There is no way that we can continue to operate like this. In a couple more weeks, more businesses will be bankrupt, even possibly us.”

Donnellan’s remarks c

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