Ontario Health Promotion Minister Jim Watson says it’s fairly straightforward.
“The regulations are clear — if there is any roof to the patio, then you can’t smoke,” he says. “We made it clear during the election campaign that we are committed to a province-wide smoking ban in all public places.”
Local bar owners say they will have to make significant alterations to their patios, or lose customers.
Under the new law, a patio with more than two walls and a roof cannot allow smoking. According to the act, a roof includes temporary shelter, such as a tarp, and needs to cover only part of the patio to apply. Umbrellas will be allowed, as long as the tops don’t touch, creating a canopy.
Some bar owners are worried that the new law will hurt their businesses, turning away regular customers.
From spring to autumn, the James Street Feed Co. on Bank Street has a large, tent-covered patio that seats about 110 people. It will become unlawful under the new rules unless the roof is discarded.
Manager Mike Vallee says the patio is essential to their business.
“It’s going to hurt us, for sure,” he says. “I could see a lot of people saying, ‘if we can’t smoke there, then we’ll find a patio we can smoke on.’ We’re a good restaurant, but there are people who have to have their smokes with their beers and their drinks.”
Vallee and others are stuck with the decision whether to alter the patio to conform to the new law or lose revenue.
“If it came to the point where people can’t smoke out there (on the patio), I can see us re-modelling, because that patio in the summer is our bread and butter,” Vallee says. “It’s not really fair, but what can you do, except conform?”
The act also imposes new regulations on tobacco advertising and the sale of tobacco to minors, but it’s the patio issue that’s causing a stir.
“If I have a patio a hundred (feet) by a hundred, and there’s a six-foot piece of plastic in the corner, I have a non-smoking patio,” Mitchell says. “If the roof is a small percentage of the patio, the impact would be absolutely minimal.”
Mitchell says the increasingly stricter bans are unfairly targeting smokers.
“The patio is where you go and find a lot of smokers socializing and having fun,” he says. “Now it means that a person in the hospitality business can’t offer any hospitality to a smoker.”
Watson says he’s aware of the arguments against the ban, but doesn’t agree with them.
“I suspect (smokers) will say it infringes on their rights, but I’m more concerned with smokers infringing on the rights of non-smokers,” Watson says. “We might one day think it was ridiculous that we allowed smoking in restaurants, as we do these days with airplanes. The public is ahead of the politicians on this.”