Yellowknife (Dec 08/03) - Yellowknife appears to be closely divided when it comes to reviewing a ban on smoking in bars. In a telephone voice-mail poll, 52.7 per cent of 518 callers said city council should review its ban. The rest, 47.7 per cent of callers, said the ban should stay.

Here's a sampling of what callers had to say:

"Can we check with Arnold Schwarzenegger to see how to recall these guys? This is irresponsible behaviour that immediately undermines confidence in our new council. It's also a disservice to bar owners, leaving them to believe smoking may be acceptable under certain conditions."

"Have the bar owners shown any initiative to do anything to entice people to come into their bars? Like have they had a band or, in the case of some bars, cleaned up the place and gotten new upholstery on their chairs. Some of the onus has to be on them."

"I definitely hope the city stands firm in their bylaw of no smoking in public places. If liquor sales are down in our capital city ... then alcohol-related incidents should go down and we will have a happier community."

"I think it's a ridiculous bylaw. Everybody that goes to the bar is of age to choose if they smoke or don't smoke."

"If I create the right environment, my business will improve. I'm at a loss to know exactly what that is. Does that mean if I supply celery sticks and carrot sticks, people will not smoke and all the health-conscious people will be in?"

"I don't know what bar owners are talking about, people saying their sales are down. You go to the Gallery right now and it's (busy). At the Black Knight you have to stand in line to get in there on the weekends, as well as the Raven. Harley's is never empty. I don't know what people are talking about."

"I think it's the perfect opportunity for them to save face. Since we have new blood on council they could reverse themselves and really think twice about the whole issue."

"I enjoy smoking but I don't enjoy icicles in my lungs when I smoke outside. Consider my health, too."

"Being a professional musician for the last 30 years, I greatly appreciate the no smoking environment in bars now. It's always been very hard to perform in these establishments. It's a blessing to have a smoke-free environment."