THE VANCOUVER RALLY

Vancouver restaurant owners sent a strong message of protest against the city's smoking ban bylaw this week with a public rally and demonstration at city hall -- and a confrontation inside council chambers.

At issue are revenue and job losses in the wake of Vancouver's draconian smoking ban. For many restaurant owners, the 100% restaurant smoking ban has meant severe hardship, as smoking customers vote with their feet.

Hotel convention business is hurting; Vancouver is a major destination for groups from Pacific Rim countries like Japan, where smoking is acceptable and organizers simply cancel when they find out smoking is not allowed.

A major Vancouver restaurant, The Elephant & Castle, has announced closures and the loss of 40 jobs. Declaring the move a result of the smoking ban, company spokesman Richard Floody charged that Vancouver council "misled the public and our industry" with assurances that the ban would not damage business.

It was in this context that about 175 angry restaurateurs, restaurant employees and former restaurant employees braved cold, wind and rain Tuesday to gather on the steps of city hall for speeches and a show of solidarity. FORCES Canada members were on hand to show support. While some speakers at the rally called merely for a "level playing field" -- code for an amended bylaw which would include pubs under the smoking ban umbrella -- the majority spoke out passionately for the rights of business owners to decide how to cater to their customers, and an end to intimidation by municipal government.

"I don't want a level playing field," said one. "I want city hall to BUTT OUT of our business". One speaker declared that the restrictions reminded him of the approach taken by fascist governments during the Second World War, while another called for his industry colleagues to defy the ban through organized non-compliance. Former restaurant employees spoke out, describing how they have lost their jobs due to a downturn in their employer's business following the ban.

Even as the B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association lobbies for provincial or regional regulation to create uniform policy on smoking, it is clear that many members want the freedom to make smoking policy decisions for themselves -- so that they may serve the market as the market demands.

During the rally, picketers patrolled 12th Ave., receiving supportive thumbs-up signs and honks from passing vehicles. Civic employees gathered within city hall to observe proceedings from their windows.

Later, the demonstrators assembled inside city hall, where a council meeting was in progress. Attempts to get a formal hearing were in vain. Earlier efforts to obtain a spot on the meeting agenda had been denied.

Council ignored the group even after it filled the public gallery to overflowing -- but that didn't stop some participants who were determined to make their voices heard. One woman, who has said she is being forced to sell her restaurant because of the ban, attempted to lie down on the floor of council chambers, but was urged to her feet by a security officer.

Steve Viras of Tops Restaurant in Burnaby, a 30 year veteran of the Vancouver area restaurant industry, finally commandeered a microphone as council conveniently adjourned for an in-camera session. He was joined by other angry restaurant owners demanding to know why council would not respond to their plight. Only Coun. Don Lee ventured back into the room to talk with the group, assuring them that council had heard their message and that there would be "dialogue."

There is support on council for returning power on smoking policy back into the hands of business owners. Coun. George Puil, who voted against the current bylaw, has gone on record as saying that the market should decide the question of restaurant smoking policy. Puil, who chairs the Greater Vancouver Regional District, has rejected suggestions that the GVRD make policy on the issue.

This week's rally, organized with the help of the B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association, is expected to be the first of several assertive protest initiatives taken by an increasingly angry - - and desperate -- Vancouver restaurant industry.

-- FORCES Canada