By Purvi Radia
Banning smoking in public buildings will hurt business, says the Royal Oak.
Officials from the Royal Oak’s head office have sent letters to mayors and city councillors of Ottawa, Nepean and Kanata in an effort to prevent public buildings in the region from becoming smoke-free.
In October, staff at the three cities held a public meeting on the issue and have been in consultation with businesses like the Royal Oak since then.
Currently, each municipality has the power to make its own smoking bylaws, under the Ontario Tobacco Control Act.
Bylaws in the region vary greatly, from no restrictions on smoking in Vanier to a limit of 30 per cent of floor space designated for smoking in Ottawa’s restaurants and pubs.
Gordon Lilley, CEO of corporate development at the Royal Oak, says businesses face a difficult situation. While making all buildings smoke-free would lose the business of smokers, an inconsistent standard causes smoking customers to go to municipalities with fewer or no restrictions.
To create a region-wide smoking bylaw, a majority of the municipalities would have to agree to pass that authority to regional government.
Debbie McCulloch, a tobacco project officer with the region’s health department, says she agrees with Lilley that a common standard would create a level playing field for all businesses.
But she says the regional government has tried unsuccessfully to impose a region-wide standard over the last five years.
That’s why the region is approaching the issue from a different angle.
“We’re now as a region advocating that each local municipality pass the strongest no-smoking bylaws possible and we are encouraging that they be consistent so the rules are the same,” says McCulloch.
But some restaurants and bars in Centretown don’t see a need for a common smoke-free standard.
“Each business has a different type of environment and clientele,” says Stephen Wallace, general manager of The Ritz 3 on Elgin Street, which has been smoke-free for 10 years. “Sometimes there are more drinkers, sometimes there are areas big enough to have a smoking section.”
Wallace says it’s healthier for staff and it helps to attract non-smokers. He says his rules are fair because if smokers want to eat there, they’ll just have to go without smoking for that short period of time.
D’Arcy McGee’s Irish Pub on Sparks Street accommodates both smokers and non-smokers through designated areas. Jeff O’Reilly, the pub’s manager, says making all public places smoke-free would affect his business. About half of his clients are smokers.
“People who are smokers tend to spend more when they’re in restaurants,” says O’Reilly. “They drink more, stay longer and spend more money, so they’re good customers.”
He says the government should educate the public on the dangers of smoking, rather than hurting businesses and punishing smokers.
McCulloch says making public buildings smoke-free should not be a political issue.
“It’s not a rights issue, it’s a health issue,” says McCulloch. “There’s no safe level of tobacco smoke in indoor places therefore we just cannot have people being exposed to cancer-causing agents.”
O’Reilly says non-smokers are accommodated by smoke-free restaurants, and it’s their choice if they want to go somewhere where there is smoke.
“I find it very unusual that smoking is still legal and yet these people are treated like social lepers,” says O’Reilly.
In response to feedback from bars like the Royal Oak, the City of Ottawa is considering its options. Martha Boyle, a city licensing official, says that since restaurants follow current smoking bylaws more than bars, they should have separate regulations.
Recommendations will be made to council in December or January.