Ban on shisha smoking in bars proposed by Edmonton city council committee

A city council committee is proposing banning shishasmoking in public places and commercial spaces like bars and lounges.

The move would affect up to 44 hookah bars, lounges and cafes in Edmonton.

On Wednesday, the community and public services committee unanimously passed a motion directing administration to prepare amendments to the city's public places bylaw.

The proposed rules wouldprohibitshisha and waterpipe smoking in public and commercial spaces byintroducing restrictionsinalignment with regulation of tobacco and potential regulations aroundcannabis smoking.

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Committee members Scott McKeen, Ben Henderson,Tony Caterina, Tim Cartmell, and Mayor Don Ivesonall voted in favourof the motion.

Prior to the vote, they spent the morning listening to presentations from anti-smoking advocates and owners of shishalounges and restaurants.

The manager of Sahara Palace saida ban on shishawould significantly hurt business.

'We have about 40 employees that work at Sahara. I think if we didn't haveshishainthere we would knock off at least 75 per cent of them'-OmarHagir, Sahara Palace

"Wehave about 40 employees that work at Sahara. I think if we didn't haveshishainthere we would knock off at least 75 per cent of them," said OmarHagir, who described Sahara as a place where customers study, work, play cards and attend family gatherings.

Hagir said itwould be "unfair to shut it down completely" for businessesfollowing the rules and meeting licensing requirements.

"If people are coming to our establishment, I think they knowthey're coming to a place the majority, it's probably 99that has shisha," said Hagir, adding it's acultural pastime."I have a Lebanese background and this is just something that's been forever ...It's kind of like a social gathering."

MulugetaTesfay, who owns Nyala Lounge, told the committeestart-up costs to obtain a licence from the cityrange between $50,000 to $250,000.

"That's issued by the city, so ifshishais banned, the city shouldn't provide a licence in the first place," said Tesfay, who will appear before a licensing committee on July 12 as city police seek to close his bar.

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But anti-smoking advocate LesHagenarguedthere is no safe level of exposure to second handshishasmoke and workers need to be protected from the"toxic chemical." He said allforms of smoking should be banned in commercial spaces, including shisha smoking.

McKeenagreed, saying: "I think the public health evidence is irrefutable and therefore the occupational health concerns are dire."

McKeensaid he recalled hearing the same arguments made bybars, restaurants andlounges prior to tobacco smoking being banned, with owners "coming in before council and saying 'You're going to destroy our business.' "

While McKeenadmitted there were some consequences for businesses due to tobacco restrictions,in the end a lot of bars, lounges restaurants, pubs, and coffeeshops stayed open.

Sahara could compete on its food alone, suggestedMcKeen.

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Henderson said he couldn't see how the issue was any different from tobacco, given the second hand smoke concerns.

"I don't know whyshishawas left out of that, and that's my big question," said Henderson."It's not about what someone does to themselves. It's about the effect they have on others. And in enclosed spaces, wherethere are people working who may or may not have a real choice about whether or not they can afford to give up that job, those are the concerns."

He said equatingshisha and cigarette smoking is not a fair comparison, noting the shishain Edmonton venues is herbal, not a tobacco product. There are only 44 hookah venues in Edmonton, while there were many more bars, restaurants and coffee shops across the city where non-smokers had previously been exposed to second-hand tobacco smoke.

"I think thatshishais being smoked in safe environments where people understand what they're getting into,"saidDziadyk. "I would encourage committee members to go to these establishments."

Outside the meeting, Dziadyk, said he thinks a lot of people don't fully understand what happens in shishabars.

"Ifyou're going to make a decision that's going to affect so many Edmontoniansand base it on crime issues, as well as health issues, when we've proven that there's not real crime issues any more than you would see at typical alcohol-serving establishments, I think that if you're going to make those decisionsyou should be more aware as towhat's happening," he said.

andrea.huncar@cbc.ca

@andreahuncar