The cottage country car crash that killed three young Toronto men last summer shocked a community and focused attention on the changing landscape of social responsibility. Just who is responsible for how much alcohol a person drinks if they get into trouble? Laws put the onus on those serving drinks to ensure the safety of drinkers -- but do those laws go too far or not far enough?

On a beautiful summer afternoon in July, 2008, 20-year-old Tyler Mulcahy, his girlfriend Nastasia Inez Elzinga, and their buddies Kourosh Totonchian and Cory Mintz gathered at the Water's Edge Restaurant at the Lake Joseph Golf Club in Port Carling, Ont. There, overlooking the shimmering waters, the friends passed the time drinking heavily. Then, they left the bar, hopped into Mulcahy's Audi and sped up Peninsula Road.

Moments later, while rounding a bend, Mulcahy lost control -- crashing through a guardrail, the car landing on its side at the bottom of the embankment, partly underwater in the Joseph River. The three young men died. Natasia Elzinga 19 was the only survivor.

Police say that alcohol and speed may have been factors in the death of Mulcahy, Mintz and Totonchian.

The tragic deaths of the young men re-opened the debate into how responsible bars and restaurants should be when serving alcohol.

In December, 2008, the Ontario Provincial Police laid 30 charges against 14 people from Clublink Corporation, the company operating Lake Joseph Club. Each were charged under the Liquor License Act with permitting drunkenness and supplying liquor to apparently intoxicated persons.

"I was a little bit shocked at the severity of the charges," said Tim Mulcahy, whose son, Tyler, was killed driving the car.

Mulcahy wants to see the driving laws change in Ontario and he has spent more than $20,000 placing ads in Toronto newspapers, urging Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty to amend the driving laws for young drivers. Mulcahy put out a petition lobbying for zero-tolerance until age 21, for speeding or alcohol consumption when driving.

Kelly Brook of Cambridge, Ont., who also lost her son to drinking and driving, believes that the answer is harsher penalties for bars and restaurants which serve excessive amounts of alcohol to patrons and permit drunkenness. Brooks's 21-year-old son, Kevin, was killed in November 2008, in a drinking and driving accident.

It was a cold November night. Kevin had been drinking at a local bar, called Moose Winooski's with his friend Katherine Walpole. The couple drank almost four pitchers of beer between the two of them. When it came time to leave the waitress insisted Katherine not drive.

Bar staff who were working that night remember the pair were visibly intoxicated. The bartender suggested they take a taxi home, even following the couple outside to make sure they didn't get into Katherine's car. Witnesses recall Kevin tried to call a cab, but Katherine refused and the two began to walk to the Brook family home.

But, when bar staff went back inside the restaurant, Brook and Walpole doubled back and drove off in her car. Minutes later the vehicle smashed into a cement hydro pole. Brook, who was in the passenger seat, was killed instantly.

Kelly Brook was awakened that night by police at her door. "They said to me, there's been a very bad accident and we believe Kevin has died," she recalled. "I just fell to pieces."

Walpole was charged with impaired driving causing death. Evidence at her trial showed that her blood alcohol level was almost three times the legal limit. Walpole pleaded guilty and will be sentenced later this spring.

Moose Winooski's will face an Ontario Alcohol and Gaming Commission hearing later this year. The restaurant could have its liquor license suspended for 45 days for permitting drunkenness.

Applying the law

Jean Major is the CEO of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. The AGCO is the regulatory body that polices the sale and service of beverage alcohol in Ontario. Major told W-FIVE that he has no tolerance for bars which serve too much alcohol.

"I've seen young people passed out in bars. I've seen people vomit in bars. You can't mistake intoxication when you see a young man carry a young woman in his arms out of a bar," said Major.

The AGCO is cracking down on bars across the province. In the Ottawa suburb of Kanata, several bars recently had their liquor license suspended for permitting drunkenness. In response, some bar owners have begun a campaign to argue that their patrons must take responsibility for themselves.

John Couse, spokesman for the new Ottawa-based advocacy group, the Ontario Restaurant and Bar Association, said his colleagues feel the AGCO too often rules with an iron fist and too many bars are facing suspensions.

"They are dealing with us in a very heavy-handed manner and a lot of us feel afraid of the liquor inspectors," said Couse.

The AGCO disagrees and feels they are being fair. Figures provided by AGCO spokesperson Lisa Murray showed that out of 17,500 licensed establishments in Ontario, only 404 were given a suspension in 2008.

One of their biggest challenges, according to bar owners, is determining just how intoxicated a customer might be, or when they're about to become truly drunk, and then picking the right time to stop serving alcohol.

"The problem with that is you don't know when intoxication happens, until after it has occurred," said Couse.

According to Couse, if an AGCO inspector happens to do a spot check and someone is intoxicated, the bar may be penalized. But, he asks, what if that customer was drinking before arriving at the bar and is already well on the way to becoming intoxicated?

Smart Serve

In an effort to educate staff at establishments that serve alcohol in Ontario, the AGCO requires all managers, persons involved in the sale or service of liquor and all security staff to take an AGCO-approved training course within 60 days of commencing employment.

The Ontario government program is called Smart Serve and is designed to teach servers how to responsibly serve alcoholic beverages. Among the lessons, the program teaches servers their legal responsibilities and how to recognize the signs of intoxication in patrons. Without this certification they may not serve alcoholic beverages.

The AGCO's Jean Major believes bars and restaurants shouldn't have any problem monitoring alcohol consumption and complying with the law as it is clearly spelled out. Under the Liquor License Act of Ontario a bar or establishment is most likely to have their license suspended for the following reasons:

• serving alcohol to minors (under 19 years of age)
• overcrowding (allowing more people in the establishment than the safe capacity as determined by the local fire department)
• serving alcohol to a patron who is already intoxicated or permitting intoxicated patrons to remain in the establishment
• serving alcohol after hours
• permitting unruly behaviour (such as fighting)
• permitting the use of narcotics on the premises

Kelly Brook believes those laws don't go far enough in controlling licenced establishments that serve alcohol.

"I believe they should be held criminally responsible if there is personal injury or death," she said. "The drunk driver is and under host responsibility they are liable for the intoxicated person until they sober up."

Tim Mulcahy, whose son, Tyler, was driving the car that killed himself and two friends, believes tougher drinking and driving laws, applied to young drivers, is part of the solution.

"I only blame Tyler and I only blame myself," Mulcahy told W-FIVE's Paula Todd. "He was responsible for that and if you were to shut down every single bar and restaurant that over-served, that let someone get in their car after they were over (the blood-alcohol limit), you'd be closing a lot of bars and clubs in Canada."

But for Kelly Brook, the tragedy of the death of her son, Kevin, is compounded by the fact that he was the second child she's lost to a drinking and driving incident. On Halloween night, 2003, Brook's 12-year-old son, Matthew, was struck and killed by a driver who admitted to drinking some alcohol. No charges were ever laid in his death.

In Kevin's death she wants the restaurant and serving staff, where he and his friend had been drinking the night of their fatal crash, to face responsibility as well.

"It's very difficult for us because we wish, of course, with all our hearts that he didn't get into that car. And he made a fatal mistake," said Brook. "And all I can say is that Kevin has paid his price and now the other people have to pay theirs."