Bar owners give up smoking-ban battle
JEFF OUTHIT
WATERLOO REGION (Feb 19, 2003)
After battling for three years, regional council is winning the war against bar owners who refuse to obey the smoking ban.
Eight bar owners have now been convicted and fined $250 to $3,000 for violating the no-smoking bylaw.
As threatened, the region has also secured prohibition orders that require convicted owners to prevent their patrons from smoking.
Violating the order could mean a jail sentence for contempt of court.
The result: all eight owners are complying with the smoking bylaw, the region revealed yesterday.
"We've given up. We're not getting anywhere," confirmed Eva Varnasidis, an owner of Oliver's.
She said her Cambridge bar is now obeying the smoking ban, after being fined $300. "We're just going to go with it," she said.
No-smoking charges against seven other establishments remain before the courts.
But two of these owners have also agreed to ban smoking, leaving only five holdouts, said Brian Hatton, the region's director of environmental health.
That's down from 28 die-hard holdouts identified in June.
This success has persuaded the region to hold off on the last weapon in its legal arsenal -- seeking Superior Court injunctions to forbid owners from allowing smoking.
Violating an injunction could result in a jail sentence or a court order to close an establishment.
When the region banned smoking in bars and restaurants amid controversy in 2000, Hatton figured it could take up to four years to force all establishments into compliance.
"We're ahead of schedule," he said. "We hope we'll have 100 per cent compliance by the end of the year."
Meanwhile, councillors expect to consider extending the smoking ban to workplaces and private clubs this year, unless the provincial government imposes its own smoking ban.
Health Minister Tony Clement startled councillors last week by suggesting the province may finally be poised to ban smoking, just as the region requested years ago.
"We don't know how serious the government is," said Coun. Tom Galloway.
Hatton is skeptical. "It's highly unlikely that this government at this time will be doing something about workplaces," he said.
Galloway and Chairman Ken Seiling are among the politicians who are leaning towards a complete workplace smoking ban, with no allowance for smoking rooms.
They're not sure the region is ready to follow the lead of some other communities and extend the smoking ban to service clubs like the Royal Canadian Legion.
"It still is a touchy area," said Seiling.
Bar owner Cal Dicks is pressing the region to extend the smoking ban to service clubs, to meet its public health mandate and create a level playing field.
He contends councillors are dragging their feet to avoid a backlash.
"We've lost a lot of business to those places," said Dicks, who owns bars in Kitchener and Cambridge.
Patrons "go there because they think they can be free to smoke without being harassed."
jouthit@therecord.com
CHARGES AND CONVICTIONS
In the courts last year, under the no-smoking bylaw, Waterloo Region government secured:
151 convictions against individuals ticketed for illegal smoking. The standard fine is $245.
Convictions against the owners of Pop's and Ruby's, Axe and Compass, L'il Big Horn Saloon, Oliver's, Royal Hotel, Mirage Nightclub, Wabana Sports Bar and the Walshee Sports Bar. Fines ranged from $250 to $3,000.
Charges pending against the owners of BC's Sports Rock, Lancaster Tavern, Phil's Grandson's Place, Arpo's Too, Fifty-Fifty Bar, Travellers Motor Inn and Uncle Gordie's.
SOURCE: WATERLOO REGION
