Canada's toughest anti-smoking regulations, in effect in British Columbia since the beginning of the year, have been tossed out by the B.C. Supreme Court.
Madam Justice Sunni Stromberg-Stein ruled yesterday that the provincial Workers' Compensation Board did not hold proper public hearings into its ban on smoking in all B.C. workplaces, including bars, restaurants and prisons.
The WCB's ban on smoking in these areas is therefore null and void, the judge declared.
Pub owners who had fought the edict tooth and nail, saying it was ruining business, were jubilant.
At the BX Neighbourhood Bar in Prince George, owner George McDonnell wasted no time bringing back the ashtrays.
"We're all celebrating up here, and there will be more celebrating tonight," said Mr. McDonnell, who has run his bar for 11 years.
Confirmed smoker Barry Adams, 44, said it felt pretty good to light up inside the BX bar for the first time this year. "My wife said she felt like she'd just won the lottery. I haven't seen the pub this busy all year," said Mr. Adams. "All the smoke and haze and stuff is back."
Said Mr. McDonnell, "Everyone's coming in here with a big smile on their face. I love the fresh air, myself, but cigarette smoke is the smell of money."
He said business had fallen 20 per cent since the edict went into effect, as smoking customers stayed home.
Like other owners, Mr. McDonnell acknowledged that the prohibition prompted a bit of new business from customers who enjoyed the smoke-free environment. "But there was not enough of them to make up for those who stopped coming, and they don't spend the same amount of money."
Yesterday's court decision was the second major legal defeat in a month for the province's aggressive campaign against tobacco. The B.C. Supreme Court ruled earlier that legislation allowing the province to sue multinational tobacco companies was unconstitutional.
But that dispute was mild compared with the opposition from pub owners throughout the province over the WCB's decision to ban smoking in drinking establishments.
Many defied the edict, incurring large fines from the WCB. Others said they were forced to lay off staff because of the loss of business.
At least half a dozen bars have gone out of business since the ban began, industry representatives said. In northeastern British Columbia, hundreds of residents protested against the prohibition by signing petitions asking to join nearby Alberta.
When the ban was imposed in a provincial corrections centre, prisoners threatened to riot and launched a court case of their own against the measure.
The WCB, which had campaigned strenuously in defence of its comprehensive smoking regulation against workplace smoking, appeared stunned by the verdict.
"We are going to respect the court's decision, but it's a surprise, obviously," Donna Freeman said. "We believed we had acted in good faith."
Ms. Freeman said the WCB would decide its next move after consulting with its governing body, a five-member panel of appointed administrators.
The board was found not to have held proper public hearings, because the ban was announced, without consultation, at a time when the hospitality industry had been told they would be exempt.
"Where the impact is so significant as to pose a risk to the private economic interests of both employers and workers, and where the impact is so onerous as to impose a policing function upon employers, coupled with severe penalties for non-compliance, then public debate is of paramount importance," Judge Stromberg-Stein found.
Vancouver bar owner Vance Campbell, who spearheaded the legal challenge, said the WCB has lost all credibility over the dispute. "It's a devastating fiasco. If most of us had a choice of laying off all our employees and closing our business, or dealing with the WCB, most of us would say to heck with the WCB."
He pledged the industry's co-operation in working out ventilation arrangements to protect employees and customers from too much cigarette smoke. "There are ways of doing that without ceasing to allow smoking. But I think we need a mediator. If the WCB tries to ram this through again, then we'll all be in the same fight," said Mr. Campbell, president of the Cabaret Owners Association of British Columbia.
He said the ban had cut business 30 per cent in his three bars, although customers who insisted on smoking were not thrown out.
"We refused to wrestle our customers to the ground and toss them outside. We're not in the business of wanting to antagonize customers to the point where we have to have a fight with them."
Labour Minister Joy MacPhail urged the WCB to accept the court's ruling. "The judge has made a very clear ruling. I hope the WCB will turn its mind to consulting with the hospitality sector on how best to achieve an environment that is safe and viable for the workers."