Inside the CRD's smoking ban resistance movement

Smokers continue to puff away when they gather for a drink in the Capital Region, despite a bylaw that says it's illegal to light up a cigarette within any bar or restaurant.

Quote: "The CRD believes itself to be omnipotent." - Colwood Councillor, Buddy DeVito

Quote: "I believe the powers that be have to come up with a more workable solution." - Alfred Sillem

Even though the Capital Region now has the toughest anti-smoking regulations in the country, there's no shortage of ashtrays on the table of many of Greater Victoria's watering holes.

That was evident when the Weekend Edition toured 15 bars throughout the Capital Region Saturday night. Out of those 15 drinking establishments, only one - the Bird of Paradise Pub - was completely cigarette smoke-free.

Customers of many bars and pubs - with a nod and a wink from management, - have decided to defy the bylaw, according to Alfred Sillem, who makes his living selling flowers to patrons who frequent local bars, nightclubs and restaurants.

Sillem, a non-smoker but ardent opponent of the CRD smoking ban and a member of the Freedom of Choice Coalition, took the Weekend Edition on a tour of his regular flower-selling route to see just how much indoor public smoking is continuing since the CRD's clean air bylaw took effect at the beginning of the year.

The tour showed that the only smokers who aren't lighting up in the many bars and pubs are the timid ones. There's still plenty of cigarette smoke being exhaled.

"I believe the powers that be have to come up with a more workable solution, " Sillem says.

Sillem's opinion is shared by others who spoke to the Weekend Edition Saturday.

Blowing smoke

Sitting at the bar in the Colwood Corners Pub with an ashtray in front of him full of cigarette butts, Colwood Councillor Buddy DeVito says the CRD's clean air bylaw, which bans smoking in all indoor public places, has to be reconsidered.

"We should take this bylaw and take it back to the municipal councils," says DeVito of his desire to have the bylaw repealed.

The municipal councillor says he has a problem with the powers that the CRD has established to enforce the bylaw. DeVito is specifically referring to Bylaw No. 2681, which among other things, gives CRD bylaw officers the authority to "enter, at all reasonable times, on any property subject to the regulations of the Board, to ascertain whether the regulations or directions are being observed."

"The CRD (believes itself) to be omnipotent," argues DeVito.

But there's nothing new about the bylaw or the CRD having such authority, says CRD Health Educator Dianne Stevenson.

At the end of January the CRD board of directors decided to apply the enforcement bylaw so that those enforcing the smoking ban could do their job.

What enforcement?

The CRD bylaw simply isn't the best way to deal with the problem of bars filling up with cigarette smoke, insists DeVito.

As a Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) advocate, he argues that WCB regulations aimed at protecting workers against second-hand smoke (to take effect province-wide Jan. 1, 2000) is a more effective way of resolving the problem.

The pending WCB regulations are primarily concerned with establishing designated smoking areas and ensuring adequate ventilation.

"I agree with this. I don't want to fight this," says DeVito.

Colwood Corners Pub owner Jody Twa says the WCB regulations are one option. But he feels the original CRD bylaw, which allowed smoking in 40 percent of a bar or restaurant, is all that is really needed.

He says an all-out smoking ban simply isn't working.

Twa says the CRD has come around to ticket some of his customers, who have been freely lighting up cigarettes at his pub since the clean air bylaw took effect Jan 1. But his smoking customers typically don't provide bylaw officers with their proper identification, he notes.

Smokers' haven

Just down the road from the Colwood Corners Pub at the Country Rose Pub, owner Richard Michaud says he's been going out of his way to accommodate both smokers and non-smokers ever since he bought the place 13 years ago.

He points out there's a partially cordoned off non-smoking room that he had built when he bought the place.

While Michaud admittedly doesn't stop people from smoking in other areas of the pub, he's managed to get the CRD to allow smoking on the bar's patio - even though it is for all intents and purposes enclosed at this time of year.

As it turns out, the Country Rose Pub isn't the only bar in the Capital Region that has an enclosed patio where patrons can smoke without having to worry about getting ticketed by the CRD bylaw enforcement officers.

When you first walk through the main doors of the Monkey Tree Pub in Saanich, there isn't a single ashtray or any smoke in sight. But at the other end of the pub beyond a set of doors there's a patio - or at least what's technically a patio, because it's totally enclosed. Inside the patio area, customers smoke cigarettes at will.

The CRD's Stevenson confirms that some of the Capital Region's watering holes have patios where smoking is permitted by the CRD. As to what constitutes a patio, she says the CRD doesn't have any regulations of its own, but rather goes by the rules that are used by the Liquor Control Board.

That means that although the intent of the CRD's smoking ban is to outlaw smoking in all enclosed public spaces, some enclosed patios - as defined by the liquor board - have become safe "indoor" havens for smokers.

Stevenson concedes many bars in the Capital Region are turning a blind eye to smoking, but she says supporters of the bylaw should be encouraged that many other establishments (such as restaurants) are complying with the smoke-free regulations.

All in all, she says, the bylaw is working as well as can be expected, considering it's only been in force for less than two months.

Even though it can seem like there's no such thing as a smoking ban when you visit many of the region's bars and pubs, Sillem says the CRD bylaw has had an impact on local bars and pubs since it took effect Jan 1.

"There's less fun out there," he says.