[graygo98]

Menage a Quatre (M4) has only been open since June 7th. Their opening attracted one reporter who wrote a surprisingly balanced piece (IMHO) about the club. He seemed surprised to discover that the people inside were actually sorta like his neighbours or people at the mall. Surprisingly normal, if a bit more "relaxed" than people usually are at a bar.

Well, I guess it didn't take too long for someone to contact their local councillor to see what he was going to do about this shocking state of affairs. Dutifully, he trotted off to Council, got everyone revved up and secured a motion calling on all the local bureaucrats to find a way to restore family values to this corner of Etobicoke. (Which up til then had been home to peaceful street whores and drug dealers plus more than its fair share of rowdy sports bars complete with puking drunks.)

While its true that the Supreme Court ruled that consensual sex behind closed doors is not a criminal matter in Canada, that doesn't mean that clubs are beyond the reach of crusading bureaucrats and their maze of bylaws. The local swinging community is all abuzz. Half want to storm City Hall while the other half want to lay low and hope it blows over quickly.

Its really unfortunate that the owners had to have this happen to them. They have spent two years and a ton of money researching clubs in Europe and NYC as well as all of the rules and regulations you need to know about. Its a really decent, fun and clean club with a lot of innovative thinking behind it.

Hopefully this will all blow over soon and all Rich and Jen's advance work with bylaw officers and the fire marshall will pay off and they will be left alone. In the meantime it would be great if Toronto area club goers could show M4 their support. And no, I'm not Rich and I have no interest in the club other than in seeing great alternatives like M4 survive.