Ontario, Quebec gird for smoking laws

Ashtrays will be put away and lighters flourished less often in Quebec and Ontario after this week as the two provinces catch up -- and surpass -- the rest of Canada in enacting anti-smoking legislation.

Beginning on Wednesday, it will be illegal in the two provinces to smoke in bars, restaurants, private clubs, schools, universities, bingo halls, casinos and virtually any other public place. Designated smoking rooms, which some other provinces still allow, will be phased out.

Ontario Health Promotion Minister Jim Watson characterized his initiative as among the "toughest, most-reaching and most comprehensive tobacco-control strategies in North America." He said it is necessary because smoking-related illnesses claim 16,000 lives a year in Ontario.

"I know that as a result of this legislation we will, in fact, save lives," Mr. Watson said yesterday.

Quebec Health Minister Philippe Couillard said his law will mark a change in attitude. About 13,000 people a year die from tobacco-related causes in the province.

"Quebec is still the smoking lounge of North America," he said. "We are the province in Canada where the rate of tobacco use is still the highest and where laws barring the sale of tobacco to minors are the least enforced. Quebec is the place in Canada where there is the highest rate of death due to lung cancer. There is a direct link between the two."

About 22 per cent of Quebeckers and 20 per cent of Ontarians smoke, but their ranks have been thinning for the past decade. In 1994, 38 per cent of Quebeckers used tobacco.

McGill University historian Jarrett Rudy said the laws are a departure from the hands-off approach that governments took for decades, but that legislators are reading the public mood accurately.

"This is just catching up to public opinion," said Prof. Rudy, whose book on tobacco consumption in Montreal, The Freedom to Smoke, was published this month.

One example of this came yesterday when a group of Quebec teenagers gave Mr. Couillard a petition supporting the legislation in both provinces. And on Wednesday, high-school students from the two provinces will mark the new laws by joining forces on a bridge linking Ottawa and Gatineau.

Both laws provide for stiff fines -- in some cases, Ontario has set no maximums. To deal with scofflaws, Ontario has given $5.5-million to local health units to hire 100 enforcement officers. Quebec has designated 75 undercover inspectors to tour the province's 8,000 bars to enforce the law, and set up a snitch line on illegal smoking.

Despite the shift in public attitudes, the laws have attracted opposition.

In Quebec, a newly formed group of about 650 bar owners said this week that they will refuse to enforce the smoking ban on their premises. The group, L'union des tenanciers de bars du Québec, split from the industry's main lobby group and has hired constitutional lawyer Julius Grey to challenge the law.

In Ontario, an alliance of pub owners, veterans and charitable organizations dependent on bingo hall revenue has complained. Politicians in border cities are warning that the smoking ban will mean millions of dollars in lost tourist business from the United States.

A "smokers rights" group formed nearly two years ago and financed by the Canadian Tobacco Manufacturers Council, mychoice.ca, is fighting provisions of the laws but not the general spirit of them.

"An act to prevent smoking from being imposed on non-smokers is one thing and we would have no problem with a smoke-free law that did just that," Nancy Daigneault, the group's president, said about the Ontario legislation.

But she said the Ontario act goes far beyond that and is more intrusive than most people expect and "actually seeks to impose non-smoking on those who are smokers."

The focus of most opposition centres on how outdoor patios are treated and on the prohibition against smoking in private clubs, such as Royal Canadian Legion halls. (Quebec will allow existing cigar lounges with $20,000 in revenue to remain open.)

Terry Mundell, president of the Ontario Restaurant, Hotel and Motel Association, said the law should have been phased in to allow the 700 or so bars with designated smoking rooms a chance to recoup their capital costs. The government is offering no compensation to these bars, but Mr. Watson said owners have known of his government's intentions since 2003.

The Ontario regulations allow smoking on patios but not if they are covered by an awning or a tarp. Quebec will allow smoking on restaurant and hotel terraces that are covered but not enclosed.

Philip Policelli, owner of Hollywood on the Queensway in Toronto, has an uncovered patio. But he said he fears the new law will actually drive away his non-smoking customers this summer once he closes his $60,000 designated smoking room. "They're not going to want to come out and sit on our patio with the smokers," he said.

Edgar Mitchell, president of an Ontario coalition representing 3,500 bars, said operators with uncovered patios will lose about 13 days of business during the patio season because of unfavourable weather since smokers no longer will have an alternate place to go. He predicts 1,000 bars will be forced out of business.

Smoking laws across the country

Ontario: The Smoke-Free Ontario Act comes into effect on Wednesday, prohibiting smoking in all workplaces and enclosed spaces that are open to the public.

Quebec: Bill 112 takes effect on Wednesday barring smoking in all public places.

British Columbia: The Occupational Health and Safety Act, which took effect May 1, 2002, limits employee exposure to second-hand smoke. Separate, ventilated rooms are allowed where employees cannot be compelled to work.

Alberta: The Smoke-Free Places Act barring smoking in public places where anyone under the age of 18 can visit came into effect Jan. 1. It covers restaurants, offices, arenas and other public facilities. Establishments can have separate smoking areas but they must be sealed off and vented separately.

Saskatchewan: The Tobacco Control Amendment Act came into effect Jan. 1, 2005, barring smoking in all public spaces.

Manitoba: A provincial law came into effect Oct. 1, 2004, banning smoking in bars, restaurants and other public places. The law does not apply to reserves, military bases or other areas the government says are outside its jurisdiction.

Nova Scotia: A total ban on smoking in public places came into effect on Dec. 1, 2003. Smoking in bars and restaurants is restricted to enclosed, separately ventilated rooms open only to adults.

New Brunswick: Smoking indoors, including in bars and restaurants, has been prohibited since the fall

of 2004.

Prince Edward Island: Smoking has been banned in any public place or workplace since June 1, 2003. The law allows specially ventilated smoking rooms.

Newfoundland and Labrador: The Smoke-Free Environment Act took effect July 1, 2005, barring smoking in all enclosed spaces, including bars, restaurants and their patios and decks.

Nunavut and Northwest Territories: The regions with the highest percentage of smokers in the country. The Workers' Compensation Board one-upped the territorial government's legislation with a 2004 statute barring smoking in all enclosed businesses and work sites.

Canadian Press