August 6th! I'm a Leo!
Posted on 06/18/2002 12:12:08 PM PDT by SheLion
WATERLOO REGION -- Stubborn bar owners may face jail for letting their customers smoke in Waterloo Region. Health staff have proposed asking justices of the peace for orders prohibiting convicted owners from breaking the smoking bylaw.
Owners could then be jailed for contempt of court if they breach the order and permit smoking.
It's thought the jail threat may be what's needed to dissuade 28 hard core premises that continue to flout the smoking ban after two years.
"What we are doing is stepping up the process basically to the maximum," said Brian Hatton, the region's director of environmental health.
"What we want is compliance. We don't want anybody to go to jail."
Alternatively, the region could seek Superior Court injunctions compelling owners to obey the no-smoking bylaw, an approach being tried in Ottawa with six proprietors.
The injunction approach could result in an order to close down a bar, or a jail sentence for its owner.
Both approaches could see bar owners face fines exceeding the current maximum of $5,000 for violating the smoking bylaw.
But some think jailing offenders is going too far, even though they want better enforcement.
Coun. Jane Brewer of Cambridge said she's "not convinced it's one of those things" that requires a jail sentence.
"I think there are other remedies that need to be looked at before we get to that," Brewer said.
The jail threat seems like overkill to Paul Weber, a Maryhill tavern owner who contends he's losing business to bars that flout the smoking ban.
"I think it's a little bit much," Weber said.
"You don't go to jail for beating people up in the park any more, so I don't know why you should go to jail for not enforcing the smoking bylaw?"
The jail threat is part of a proposed enforcement crackdown aimed at 28 stubborn establishments.
Councillors have also been advised to reassign six public health inspectors to help police the ban.
They would target the holdout establishments with repeated plainclothes visits.
As well, it's proposed the region stop giving bar owners three warnings in advance of charges.
Health staff say the crackdown, to be considered by councillors today, addresses complaints that a few establishments are stealing business away from 99 per cent of the industry that complies with the ban.
It comes a week after council tightened its bylaw by banning smoking at private functions like weddings and corporate events.
The next step for future debate, health staff say, is for council to reconsider smoking in taxis, workplaces, and private clubs like Royal Canadian Legion halls.
Unlike other communities, Waterloo Region exempted these places from its smoking ban.
Health staff now contend that some private clubs are admitting members of the public to smoke.
Also, extending the ban to these places would meet the region's goals by protecting employees and others from second-hand smoke.
Extra enforcement would come by reassigning six of 26 public health inspectors away from duties like food inspection and infection control, on a part-time basis.
The smoking ban is enforced by two bylaw officers. But their effectiveness is limited because they are widely recognized by owners.
In the meantime, it's also proposed that the region:
Continue educating the public about the dangers of smoking.
Consider new ways to conduct anti-smoking investigations.
Ask courts to impose big fines against repeat offenders.
Publicize the names of convicted owners in reports to council, as is done with food-safety violations.
Continue to advise the province's liquor licensing agency of establishments that violate the bylaw, to put their liquor licence at risk.
SMOKING INFRACTIONS
Today, people can be fined but not jailed for illegal smoking in enclosed public places.
€ 898 individuals have been convicted of illegal smoking. Most have faced fines reaching $255.
€ 19 proprietors have been convicted of permitting smoking. The highest fine has been $3,000. Most fines have been $1,000 or more.
Yea, the government condemming tobacco smokeing will make it very unappealing to adolesents.
Several of our favorite bookstores keep treats tucked behind the counter to keep the hard to please canine customer happy.
No it went up $9.00, the total price of a carton of cigarettes in Toronto, Ontario, Canada as of today is $60.00 CDN. With the exchange rate that's what, $36 USD a carton give or take a dollar.
I'm sure the various smugglers are gearing up, it's only been one day since the hike took effect up here.
I've never been to a reserve in Canada, but I have friends who have and they do have sell cigarettes there. I don't know offhand how much cheaper it is.
There are a lot of stores in China town in Toronto that sell bootleg cigarettes, mostly Malboro, which aren't available in Canada for some strange reason. You can buy pretty much every American brand up here legally. Go figure.
Another good place is the Canadian Legion, that is where my grandfather gets his from.
Sounds like the legislators who proposed this law should be jailed.......
It's all about control and some hanky panky going on behind closed doors to screw the smoker again. None of this passes the smell test.
And the U.S. will try to keep up with Canada, you watch.
They were obviously unaware of their rights as citizens. In the Province of Ontario, Bylaw Enforcement Officers have no powers of arrest and do no have the authority to compel a citizen to identify himself.
August 6th! I'm a Leo!
The control that the Boards of Health over a business is mind-boggling. It certainly reeks of nazi-izm at it's finest.
I guess they could become "clubs" with dues paying members, but I'm not sure all the ramifications of that route.
I'm not even sure it's about the individual business any more, all I here I up here is stuff about how must smokers cost the heath care system. The arguement is now all the bars should ban smoking for the greater public good.
It's disturbing so many businesses are willing to go along with these crazy schemes. If enough of these people would rebel and tell the government they won't be told how to run their private busineses, the government would have to back down.
These aren't legislators. They're municipal level politicians who like to think they can just command and it will appear. The legal profession may well have a different and more realistic slant on just what power a J.of P. has.
The Ontario Provincial Gov't has given a mandate to all County Health Boards to clamp down on smoking, while they in turn stay quietly at arms length and collect the taxes. We are currently going through public consultation in our District ,which really means we already know what's best for you but we think you're stupid enough that in the end you'll actually think you thought of it.. We have a Federal law that says anyone under 19 can't buy tobacco but any day you can find 14 year olds puffing merrily away on any street corner. They fine the seller, often a clerk in a convenience store who is working at minimum wage, for allowing the teenager to break the law. To go after the kid would be politically insane.and it might actually reduce smoking ..er... reduce taxes.
I smoked for 32 years. It's hard on you, it stinks and it's expensive and quitting was one of the hardest things I've ever done. But the Governments did everything to allow tobacco companies to hook us and as an adult no one has the right to tell you where ,when ,what, why or why not you can smoke. It's your choice, not theirs.
You can bet on it, some friends are already shopping for smugglers, when the product gets tax saturated, survival forces takes over.
That is true, but they have actually gone to the extreme of having an undercover by-law smokey, following a sinner home, police in tow.
I can't help but think of that passage in The Gulag Archipalago where the protagonist and his friends wonder how different their lives would be if the government agents were afraid to go to work in the morning.
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