The University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU) gave The Blind Duck pub $28,500 in the 2011–2012 financial year, according to a report from Simcoe Hall.
The report, from David Newman, Acting Director, Office of the Vice-Provost, Students, notes that “during the year, the Students’ Union advanced funds to the Blind Duck (Pub). On approval by the Board of Directors, the total advances of $28,500 (2011 – $Nil) have been written off.”
The use to which the money was put remains unclear.
Shane Madhani, general manager of The Blind Duck pub, stressed that the restaurant has overcome many obstacles in recent years, and the need for that money in the 2011–2012 fiscal year arose for a variety of reasons.
The loss of an independent liquor license was one such reason: “Revenue from liquor sales … used to go directly to the pub,” he said, explaining that now it goes to the university, which holds the liquor license.
Madhani also cited the rise of food prices in recent years as another obstacle for the restaurant, which needs to keep prices low to attract students.
While Madhani is confident that the restaurant will not need financial assistance on the same scale as in previous years, he would not comment on whether the restaurant has received any such assistance in the current financial year.
The restaurant is a subsidiary of the UTMSU, and has been supported financially by the union on and off for years. In the 2010–2011 financial year, the restaurant received $15,656 from the UTSMU.
Extensive changes from 2007
Madhani became the general manager of The Blind Duck pub in 2007. Walied Khogali, executive director of UTMSU, remembers the time before Madhani’s appointment as a period where The Blind Duck pub faced significant problems. Prior to 2007, the restaurant ran at a deficit of approximately $200,000 per year.
Drastic changes to the restaurant’s operations were made from the 2007–2008 financial year. UTMSU stepped in, holding focus groups with students and conducting an audit of the restaurant’s finances to see what needed to be changed. “We wanted The Blind Duck pub to operate like a lean machine,” Khogali recalls.
At the end of Madhani’s first year, the pub managed to break even. “It hasn’t been like that every single year since,” Madhani admits, but many significant changes have been made in an attempt to ensure that high deficit numbers remain a thing of the past.
A number of halal and vegetarian options were introduced to the menu to accommodate the diverse community at UTM — the pub even received a student complaint in 2012 about a perceived lack of non-halal food options. Today, 16 of the 35 options on The Blind Duck’s menu are alternatively available as halal, and 16 are vegetarian. Unpopular menu items were also cut.
Significant changes were also made to the pub’s hours of operation, in a move meant to attract students after lectures. Today, the pub is open from 10.30 am–8 pm Mondays through Wednesdays, 10.30 am–7 pm on Thursdays, and 10.30 am–4 pm on Fridays, although hours are extended for pub nights. Before Madhani became general manager, the pub was open from 9 am–5 pm each day of the week.
The Blind Duck also attempted to engage with the communities on campus. “One of the most important decisions that we made was to open our doors to the many different student organizations at UTM,” Madhani says. The pub now hosts events run by many different student associations, including the Erindale Chinese Students’ Association and the Erindale Korean Students’ Association, among others. Many events have already been booked at the pub in anticipation of the upcoming school year.
However, despite these changes, many students remain unsatisfied. In a letter to the editor of The Medium entitled “Rage against the campus” last year, fourth-year student Sami Karaman expresses his disdain for The Blind Duck’s hours of operation: “Well it’s not that bad. I mean it’s probably open to midnight or something on Fridays, right? Wrong. The Blind Duck, that beautiful student sanctuary where I can forget about midterms and essays and have a nice, cold beer, closes at four in the afternoon on Fridays.”
