By Kelly Leydier
Local bar owners aren’t forcing their customers to butt out even though a four-month-old city bylaw says they have to.
The smoking bylaw, which took effect Oct. 1, requires all bars and restaurants to designate 70 per cent of their space as non-smoking.
But many bars are ignoring the bylaw because it’s too hard to enforce. The large number of people who smoke in bars makes it impossible to abide by the law, says Dan Byrne, owner of the Celtic Cross Pub on Bank Street.
“You’d be kicking out 100 per cent of the population (because they’re smoking),” he says.
Considering the size of his pub, Byrne says following the law wouldn’t remove the smoke anyway.
“In a place like this, even if you do have a small smoking section, the smoke still travels,” he says.
Richard Condo, co-owner of Goodfella’s Comedy Club on Bank Street, says he doesn’t follow the bylaw either.
“I didn’t know there was a smoking bylaw,” says Condo, who opened his business six weeks ago.
He says he would prefer a totally non-smoking environment, but too many people smoke for that to be good for business.
Still, following the rules seems to be easier at the Royal Oak, also located on Bank Street.
“We’ve totally supported it and it works well here,” says Scott Heffernan, manager of the bar.
“It’s a touchy subject,” he says. “It’s just important to make everyone comfortable.”
His bar and others, including the Celtic Cross and Goodfella’s, have installed air ventilation systems to curb the smoke.
The ventilators must be working, because at least one Celtic Cross customer has noticed a difference.
“I do notice the change. I notice the places aren’t so smoky,” says Toni Forsythe.
She says she’d stopped going out because of her smoke allergy, but lately she’s able to enjoy Centretown nightlife.
Forsythe’s non-smoking daughter Esmé is more accepting of a smoky atmosphere.
“You go to the bar and expect the smoke,” she said.
This attitude seems to be common, but for people in restaurants, smoking isn’t as tolerated.
The bylaw is enforced only when the city receives a complaint, says Martha Boyle, manager of licensing for the City of Ottawa.
So far they have received about a dozen complaints, and Boyle said most of them were for restaurants.
But even after the bars and restaurants comply with the 70-30 split, people still complain about the smoke.
Assad Freige, owner of Pancho Villa on Elgin Street, says his restaurant has always had a larger non-smoking section due to demand.
To ward off further complaints, he says, “I always try to warn people if they’re near a smoking section.”
Aside from restaurant-goers, the only people complaining about the bylaw are smokers.
Wayne Bonner, a cook at Goodfella’s, says the government is being too controlling.
“The next thing they’re going to do is tell us when to go to bed — we’re losing our freedom.”
However, the bylaw may soon get tougher.
Boyle says the past city council supported in principle a motion to make all public places in Ottawa smoke-free by the year 2000.
For bars not complying with the current bylaw, Boyle has little sympathy.
“It’ll be a rude awakening in the year 2000 if they have to go 100 per cent non-smoking, if they haven’t incrementally arrived at that point.”