Yellowknife (Mar 14/03) - Take a deep, long drag. It may be the last legal smoke you enjoy in a public building in the territories.

Jose Loco server Kat Villeneuve may soon be working in a smoke-free environment - Darren Stewart NNSL photo

The Workers' Compensation Board for the NWT and Nunavut took the first steps towards a complete ban on smoking in the workplace last week. The board announced it plans to design a ban for the territories similar to regulations that have been in place in British Columbia since April 1998, said Dave Grundy, spokesperson for the WCB.

"The ban will simply be no smoking in any workplace," he said. "The definition of workplace hasn't been defined but it's essentially any place that anybody works and it could include vehicles."

The ban could be in effect by year's end.

The Northwest Territories would be the second jurisdiction in Canada to implement a workplace ban after B.C. but other provinces are looking into it, said Grundy. "It's time," he said. "Society is ready for this, the Worker's Compensation Board's main focus is workplace and workplace safety and health of the workers."

He said there could be provisions for bars and restaurants within the ban.

"B.C. has a provision where they can add a smoking room but it has to be a separate ventilation system to the outside," he said. "We'll certainly look at that."

Grundy played down his concern over possible resistance to the ban, though he admitted he expects many bars and restaurants to complain over lost revenue.

"The effect wasn't that bad in B.C.," he said. "Everybody was on an even playing field, everybody had to comply, and they have to comply at the same time so there's no disadvantage to any business. That's the fair way to do it."

Andrew Wong, chair of the WCB said he anticipates broad support.

"We know there will be small groups who oppose this, likely in the hospitality industry, but we also know that many more people want this."

He said a study done in British Columbia showed there was no long term effects on business's bottom lines. He said Canadians are generally more health conscious and understand that secondhand smoke can lead to disease.

"There's a lot of momentum for this in the territories and we want to support that momentum," he said.

Butting heads

Not everybody is enthusiastic about a ban.

Bob Ross, owner of Jose Loco's in Yellowknife, said the onus should be on business owners to monitor smoking.

"The way I see it is if customers don't want to be around smoke they don't have to come in here. And I don't force my employees to work here."

Ross said his evening clientele are typical of any bar -- they come down for a drink and smoke.

"I'd say about 90 per cent of our evening customers do smoke," he said. "But I'd say we have the best ventilation system in town for a bar so it isn't a big issue."

"It shouldn't be for them to decide to force a law on me," he said. "I feel like they're coming into my home and saying I can't smoke."

Pierre Lepage, owner of L'Heritage and Le Frolic restaurants said the law will be particularly hard on Northern patrons.

"In Vancouver you can send people outside to the sidewalk to smoke, but what are you going to do up here, send them out in the -45 C?"

Lepage agreed the ban would be bad for business at the beginning but said patrons would come back eventually. "If you look at the way things are going it's going to be a crime just to smoke."

The WCB will distribute a questionnaire over the next few weeks and will conduct telephone surveys of 500-700 businesses about the ban.

"We'll tabulate the results and present that information at public meetings," said Grundy.

Timeline

"We hope to have this done by the end of the year but I'm not sure yet when a ban would take effect."

The ban may also cover correctional facilities in the territories, he said, and added that prisoners would likely be a part of the consultation process.

Attached to the questionnaire is a research study produced by the WCB that says 42 per cent of people in the NWT smoke and 27 per cent of adolescents smoke -- which are among the highest rates in Canada. The study says second-hand smoke kills 3,600 non-smoking Canadians per year and costs employers $2565 per employee annually (in 1995 dollars).

Grundy said the WCB board of directors will either produce new legislation or new regulations which would fall under the Safety Act.

"Someone will be assigned to enforce this and there will be a complaint procedure put in place," he said. "If you or I went into a workplace and saw somebody smoking then there would be a 1-800 number you could call and inspectors would go out and check it out."