Winnipeg poised to be last city to allow public patio smoking

City hall may reconsider a patio smoking ban now that Winnipeg couldsoon bethe last large city in Canada to allow people to puff away in public places.

In 2003, Winnipeg was one of thefirst Canadian citiesto ban smoking inside restaurants. Since then, indoor smoking has been banned from public places in almost every Canadian urban centre, thanks to a combination of municipal and provincial legislation, while most large citieshave banned outdoor smoking as well.

Earlier this week, Regina announced it's contemplating a patio smoking ban that would be enacted on July 15. If that ban is approved later this month by theSaskatchewan capital's city council, it would mean Winnipeg would be the last major Canadian city to ban smoking outside.

• City of Regina poised to ban smoking on patios, playgrounds

Council property committee chair John Orlikow (River Heights-Fort Garry) said Winnipeg ought to revisit the idea of a patio smoking ban.

"I think it's time to look at it, at least, and bring it forward for consideration. We do know the effects of smoking on a patio,"Orlikowsaid in a telephone interview.

"I guess everybody is catching up to us and it's time for us to review and look at it ourselves."

The Canadian Cancer Society, which has lobbied unsuccessfullyfor a patio smoking ban in Winnipeg, says second-hand smoke outdoors presents nearly the same health hazardsit does indoors.

"Your lungs don't know the difference. The smokemightdissipate more on a patio, but it's not like it's all blowing away immediately," said Erin Crawford, public issues director for the society's Manitoba office.

She said Winnipeg experienced a "really proud moment" when it passed its public smoking ban.That ban, passed by council during Glen Murray's second term as mayor,was the culmination of a successful consensus-building effort by former North KildonancouncillorMark Lubosch.

"Here we are now, 13 years later, and we're staring down the barrel of being the last in the country of the major Canadian cities to ban smoking on patios. So that's something that's really disappointing for the Canadian Cancer Society," she said.

Winnipeg's city council considered a patio smoking ban during Sam Katz's third term as mayor, but wound up asking the province to enact the ban instead.

• Smoking banned at Winnipeg sports fields
• Winnipeg one step closer to patio smoking ban

Today, there may be more support for the idea of a ban, given a drop in the popularityof smoking tobacco.

"In think I've seen a huge cultural shift in what people's expectations are these days. It's much more the norm not to see smoking in public places, so I don't think we'd see the opposition," she said.

• Winnipeg's smoking rate the lowest it has been in 10 years, report says

Many restaurants have enacted patio smoking bans on a voluntary basis, saidCoraleeDolyniuk, manager of the Manitoba Restaurant & FoodservicesAssociation.

She said the prospect of an outdoor smoking ban is no longer a bigconcern for Manitoba restaurants.

Rhea Collison, a partner atBar Italia, said she too doesn't believe a patio smoking ban would make an appreciable dent in business at the Corydon Avenue restaurant, which operates two patios.

"I don't like it when government tells me to do anything, but if they do it, they do it and people will adapt," she said, surmising smokers have grown accustomed to being discreet with their habit.

The former smoker also suggested it may be easier for others to quit if patio smoking disappears.

Research published in 2013by the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit supports this idea. A longitudinal study of 3,460 Ontario smokers concluded tobacco users who were exposed to patio smoking were less likely to attempt to quit the habit.

Nonetheless, there are some tobacco users who aren't enamoured by the idea of a patio ban.

"As smokers, we've given up so many of our rights over the years," said Don Daly, standing along River Avenuein Osborne Village.

"We've given them up without really fighting for ourrights."

Should Winnipeg reconsider a patio smoking ban?

7 years ago

Duration 1:28

Winnipeg is poised to be the last large city in Canada to allow people to puff away on restaurant patios. The only other holdout, Regina, is pushing to enact a ban this July.