Calgary's slow burn

Sun, July 16, 2006
UPDATED: 2006-07-16 03:48:12 MST
City hall powers that be in no hurry to force businesses to kick butt
By BILL KAUFMANN, CALGARY SUN

It's a smouldering issue that won't be extinguished, as long as cigarettes are allowed to burn in city eateries and bars.

Three-and-a-half years after a deal was struck between the city and its hospitality industry to postpone a comprehensive cigarette ban in public spaces until Jan. 1, 2008, the fight to fast-track prohibition has flared anew.

Increasing evidence citing the dangers of second-hand smoke -- as exemplified in a recent U.S. Surgeon-General's report -- and a trend towards butt bans in other jurisdictions have fired up foes of Calgary's slow-burning approach.

Anti-tobacco activist Robyn Hefferton says a year of fruitless lobbying that often felt like head-butting a brick wall took its toll, but the latest foray has her back in the fray.

She'll be in council chambers tomorrow when aldermen vote on possibly imposing a blanket smoking ban in public places Jan. 1, 2007, rather than a year later.

"I'm telling aldermen Calgarians support the ban, why is a deal with business taking priority to what the general public wants?" she says.

A former city nightclub manager, who wished to remain anonymous, says he knows one important reason the hospitality industry lobbied to delay cigarette prohibition until 2008.

Some watering holes, he alleges, receive major support from tobacco companies, which they use for booking bands and even renovations in return for promoting cigarettes on their premises.

Tobacco companies fight tooth and nail for the right to sign contracts with bars, worth easily $100,000 a year, he says.

It's a charge echoed somewhat by smoking opponents in B.C.'s Lower Mainland, who say tobacco firms made large donations to a hospitality industry group there that sprang up to block an anti-smoking bylaw.

Calgary restaurateur Al Browne, who was instrumental in negotiating Calgary's 2008 pact, vehemently denies any of the outcome was linked to tobacco money.

"That is completely false -- I've never heard of any of that happening here," says Browne.

It's a view echoed by Charlie Mendelman, vice-president of the Calgary Pub and Bar Association.

"We never got one cent from the tobacco industry in Calgary," said Mendelmen.

That's a preposterous denial, says Les Hagen, executive director of the group Action on Smoking and Health.

"Those companies' presence is everywhere, whether it's the cigarette girls or the signage in those places," he says.

In any case, says Hagen, Calgary's current bylaw forcing restaurants to choose between tobacco and minors while leaving bars unfettered has left the city the butt of black humour among the health conscious across the country.

"Calgary is considered a Chernobyl among smoke-free circles in Canada -- people are constantly bringing it up," says the Edmontonian, noting the city is the last larger centre in Canada not to institute a comprehensive ban.

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A host of health-care-related conventions have passed up Calgary due to its archaic smoking bylaws, says Hagen.

"We're not just talking about the anti-tobacco groups, it's the entire health community that notices," he says.

He insists the city's 2008 prohibition is based on health concerns that are as valid today as they'd be in 18 months.

"Protection delayed is protection denied," he says.

So far, though, only six of 15 aldermen are solidly in the fast-track camp, with a total of eight needed to win the day.
Ald. Ric McIver is one of those backing the status quo, insisting health factors are only one part of the equation.

"Health is an important concern, but freedom and personal responsibility are also concerns," says McIver.

Backtracking to reduce health worries would only place council in ill-repute, as flip-floppers, he says.

"It's stuff like this that led to an 18-percent turnout in the last civic election," says McIver.

Despite numerous polls showing a majority of Calgarians want a swifter butting out, McIver said he has no reason to believe it's a majority desire.

And Calgary, he says, has nothing to be ashamed of in resisting speedier progress towards full tobacco prohibition.

"Some of the other cities are ahead of Calgary in personal health, but Calgary's led in personal responsibility," he says.

Some have suggested city council knew the deal hatched three years ago with its 2008 deadline guaranteed the issue would be an open sore well before that date was reached.

But McIver says the bottom line is, a deal's a deal.

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It's one of the most maligned and bewildering aspects of Calgary's current smoking bylaw -- a cigarette ban on outdoor bar patios while patrons inside are free to light up.

Ald. Craig Burrows admits he brokered that part of the pact nearly four years ago while also engineering the 2008 date for a total tobacco ban in such places.

But now Burrows has changed his tune and wants a 2007 kibosh on smoking in public -- an altered stance that's drawn the ire of some in the hospitality industry.

Restaurateur Browne, who haggled with Burrows and anti-smoking activists in backroom sessions three years ago, says he and his allies were stunned when Burrows offered smoke-free patios in exchange for a postponed ban indoors.

"We were flabbergasted ... it was a weird request," says Browne, a director of the Canadian Food and Restaurant Association (CFRA).

"We protected Burrows all these years, because there's been ridicule over that part of the bylaw -- he's gone unscathed."

But he says the gloves are now off, adding Burrows has proven himself a turncoat.

"When you give us your word, then turn on us, this is no longer a smoking issue, this is a credibility issue," says Browne, who recalled bargaining sessions so rancorous, they almost came to physical blows.

He's convinced if Burrows had approached the negotiations differently, Calgary bars would be smoke-free today.

Burrows, however, remains unruffled, explaining his position on patios was influenced by his own unpleasant experiences while having a cool one outdoors.

"It's the only place I had a problem with smokers -- they wouldn't put their cigarettes down, they'd put them in your face," he says.

Such outdoor smoking, Burrows adds, is visible to the young and sends an unhealthy message.

Three years ago, his concern over the fate of mom and pop operations had him favouring the 2008 deadline.

Since then, however, business owners have told him their fears of a financial hit from a cigarette ban have gone up in smoke, says the alderman.

"They're saying now things have changed. They're doing fine," says Burrows. "It would have been one thing if we'd changed our minds six months after, but now it'll be four years.

The ability to be flexible and admit one might have been mistaken is more valuable than misplaced loyalty, he adds.

And bowing to the demands of the majority, which includes the 80% of Calgarians who are non-smokers, says Burrows, is just plain intelligent.

"Do what the majority says and you'll have a long life in politics," he says.

Offering a smoke-free environment would also make it easier for for businesses to overcome a rising recruiting challenge, said Burrows.

Browne says his side isn't necessarily opposed to the 2007 deadline, but resents having the decision sprung on them.

"We're willing to bite the bullet, but let's have the same process of consultation we had before ... what they're doing is ram-rodding it down our throats."

He said three years ago, the CFRA appealed to the province to bring in an Alberta-wide smoking ban -- in a bid to create a level playing field -- but were rebuffed.

It's one thing both Burrows and Browne can agree on -- the province has abdicated its responsibility on a legitimate health-care issue by downloading it on municipalities.

"The province is missing the boat in this -- they should be doing this," says Burrows.

But he dismissed Browne's call for another round of stakeholder consultation that proved so torturous three years ago.

"By the time we finish that, it'd be 2008," he says.

Browne says time has taken its toll -- on smoking in establishments, adding 98% of Calgary restaurants have butted out voluntarily.

"It's already being taken care of," he says.

"This issue's being used as brownie points by politicians."