By Mike Spelay
Dan Taite is fighting mad about the 100 per-cent non-smoking bylaws that may be passed on April 25. He’s decided to do something about it.
The local ventilation equipment businessman from Pure Air Supply will question the statistics offered by the Smoke Free Ottawa campaign and find out how many people in Ottawa really support the bylaws.
Taite has invested in creating a new survey, which he has sold to 50-75 bars and restaurants in Ottawa. The survey asks the questions: “Would you be in favour of designated smoking areas and/or other alternatives?”as well as “Do you agree with a 100 per cent smoking ban?” and “Are you a smoker?”
“The reason for the survey is to learn about the city’s statistics. Who did they survey and what questions did they ask?” says Taite.
According to the city’s survey, 71 per cent of residents support a complete smoking ban in restaurants, and 57 per cent support the ban in bars.
Taite says the reason for his plan of action is the loss in revenues that he anticipates for himself and bars all over the region.
“I’m probably $500,000 poorer if these bylaws are passed,” he says.
“In Kitchener, when they tried this, 24 bars and three bingo halls shut down, and between $250,000 and $600,000 to charities was lost and the mayor wants to raise property taxes to deal with the loss of revenues,” says Jill Scott, manager of Chateau Lafayette House on York Street in the market, a tavern that at 155 years old is one of the oldest bars in Ottawa. “If bars thought that going smoke-free would be profitable, we would have done it.”
“Mr. Taite, should this bylaw be approved, will not have a business,” says Carolyn Hill, president of the Ottawa-Carleton Council on Smoking and Health. “Bars do not run the same risk. You can look at the economic data after a bylaw has been in place in another city. If you take a year’s sales, they will remain the same.”
Taite says the survey is importan because it asks people who actually frequent the hospitality industry. Like the Smoke Free Ottawa campaign, Taite’s campaign also comes with advertising costs in the Ottawa Citizen and the Ottawa Sun. Because of the personal cost, he charges $200 to businesses that would like to offer the survey at their establishment.
Scott says it’s not fair because the way things are now, non-smoking sections in bars and clubs are not enforced.
“The industry is coming from a 100 per cent unenforced position and going to a 100 per cent enforced position when there are other alternatives,” she says. “We, the small business owners, are the ones who stand to lose.”
Although the ballot boxes will continue to be displayed at more and more bars and restaurants in the region as the date approaches, Taite did bring a sampling to the public meeting on April 6.
According to his statistics, 75 per cent of patrons are against the proposed ban.
“If these are the clientele of the industry,” he says, “what makes them think that won’t hurt business.”