Bar owners should stop slamming their heads against the wall and give up their challenge of the new smoking bylaw. It’s too expensive to fight and unlikely to be overturned after withstanding one court challenge earlier this year.
Some bar owners rationale for avoiding the smoking bylaw is simple: let customers smoke, then more customers will come to the bar. If bar owners get ticketed they can pay the fine or challenge it in court. The fines will pay themselves, because more customers will bring more money.
That may be true, but now bar owners have to consider a few more things: higher fines mean more customers are needed to get the money needed to pay fines. Legal costs will be heavy if owners challenge the bylaw constantly in court and fighting it tooth and nail.
Susan Jones, director of bylaw services for the City of Ottawa, is confident the city will win any court challenges to the new bylaw. She has a right to be confident. The compliance rate for the bylaw is reported to be 95 per cent. That is high for such a controversial bylaw. If it is working that well then there is going to be not a lot of reason for the court to throw it out. Especially, since it has already survived one court challenge by the Pub and Bar Coalition of Ontario (PUBCO) earlier this year.
The higher fines the city has announced it will be seeking from violators is only part of the punishment that bars can receive. It’s not the city that decides on the method used to enforce compliance. The city doesn’t even set the fine levels. The province has already decided all that in the Provincial Offences Act.
Bar owners should know that repeat offenders can be forced by court orders or other methods to comply. If bar owners choose to ignore a court order, they can be held in contempt of court. That means more court costs and a long legal battle and that’s something a bar doesn’t need.
A long legal battle means lots of time in court and not at the bar. The bar may become neglected in the drive to have the right to let customers smoke. Spending all that time going through legal books may mean less time pouring beers and a loss of business.
All that time in court, also means a lawyer and that means high court costs. Lawyers charge large fees by the hour for their work. Spending tons of money on a lawyer for what is considered a lost cause is not a smart idea. A bar owner is usually a small business owner and unwanted costs always hurt a business owner large or small.
Bar owners should realize it’s time to stop. They’re no further towards success than they were when the fight began and it’s has cost them lots of time trouble and money. The war’s been won, let the city be smoke free.
— John Guise