Winnipeg bylaw prohibits use of tobacco in public locations frequented by minors
By KRISTA FOSS
Saturday, January 5, 2002 – Print Edition, Page A4
Posted on 01/05/2002 4:44:00 PM PST by Timesink
Doughnut shop bans children to allow customers to smoke
Winnipeg bylaw prohibits use of tobacco in public locations frequented by minors
By KRISTA FOSS
Saturday, January 5, 2002 – Print Edition, Page A4
WINNIPEG -- When she was refused service at a Winnipeg doughnut shop yesterday, Karen Jonasson's eyes widened then rolled upward.
"I don't believe this," the flustered woman said aloud before turning on her heel and making a quick exit.
Beside her were the two reasons Ms. Jonasson couldn't get coffee and a cruller to go -- her children, 7 and 8.
The busy mother had inadvertently waltzed into one of six Coffee Time locations in the city that have put puffing customers ahead of pint-sized ones in an effort to get around a new bylaw meant to ban smoking in places minors frequent.
The half-dozen doughnut shops and a handful of other restaurants and delicatessens in the city have chosen to ban children under the age of 18.
As a result, the location where Ms. Jonasson stopped yesterday had laid off three employees who are minors, according to the manager, Susan, who withheld her last name. One former employee will return in March when she turns 18.
Besides raising eyebrows, the clash over the antismoking bylaw that became effective Jan. 1 has raised concerns about infringement of human rights.
"The irony is that the bylaw was meant to protect children, not harm them. The way it is being applied has the exact opposite result," said David Matas, a Winnipeg immigration lawyer who works on human-rights issues. "Children are a vulnerable minority. But you can't discriminate against them simply because you want to make money."
Yet this is the crux of Winnipeg's great doughnut divide -- whether catering to smokers is better for business.
According to Susan, it is -- although under provincial guidelines half of her store has to be set aside for non-smoking adults.
"We tried to obey the bylaw for one day and we lost half our business," she said. "But now that we've allowed smoking and banned minors, our business has doubled today. We're getting calls from across the city."
Vern Ducharme, who helps manage four Winnipeg Tim Hortons stores -- all of which have been smoke-free for three years -- chuckled.
"It's absurd . . . kids live for doughnuts," said Mr. Ducharme, a smoker who doesn't indulge during work hours. "Our business hasn't been hurt by going smoke-free at all."
City councillor Mark Lubosch, who chairs the committee that pushed for a ban on smoking indoors, called the businesses choosing to ban children "laggards."
"Those businesses that are putting smokers ahead of youth are shortsighted and grossly irresponsible," he said. "They are putting profits ahead of employees and customers. This issue has always been about health."
For Ms. Jonasson, the idea that a place dedicated to jelly-filled confections would allow parents with children to use only the drive-through window is insulting.
"I will never come back here," she said outside the store. "There are plenty of places in this town where I can buy coffee with my kids -- and they're smoke-free, too."
But inside the Coffee Time, smokers puffed away, unrestrained and happy. "Viva la Coffee Time," one puffer shouted.
So why the $%^%& did you need to pass some Nazi law to enable that in the first place you dimwit???
Yeah, right, uh-huh.......January 1, 2003 will se government imposing a ban because donuts are fattening and someone has a study somewhere that children are overweight and obese and don't get enough exercise.
Children are a minority? Well then, technically, so are the owners of doughnut shops. And the customers. Which minority gets its rights protected?
Normal, decent people on one side, and stinking liberal pukes on the other.
Like that scene in 'Braveheart'...
Two enormous crowds just running toward each other swinging whatever is handy and screaming at the top of their lungs.
These businesses are just that: BUSINESSES. They're not daycares charged with watching after children. Besides, who's more likely to give you business, the guy with the job (who just happens to smoke), or the kid with no job.
For pity's sake, get a grip.........
Children having everything their little black hearts desire is not the be all, end all of the world!
I'm picturing soccer moms huddled outside of donut shops and restaurants with their kids in cold, blowing rain.
And I'm liking what I see!
*Rolling eyes*
Here in CA, they just made a law that all smokes must be behind a counter, for full service sale, to prevent children from stealing smokes. A friend of mine who owns a smoke shop was ticked off.. he couldn't possibly move all tobacco items in the shop behind the counter, so he built a small counter, stuck a cash register on it, put it in front of the enclave where all cartons of smokes are stored, and put up a sign that said "full service only". Of course, it is not full service. He doesn't use that register, it is just subterfuge for the cops.
Heck yeah! Unfortunately for me that means at least a 220 mile drive.
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