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December 16, 2005
Butt in
Unapologetic smoker Colby Cosh highlights this very odd story out of Edmonton, capital of Canada's Freedom Province™. It seems an enterprising publican decided that if people can't smoke in his bar, then perhaps they'd like to smoke in a spiffed-up school bus parked just outside his bar.
I have no idea why the city would go after such a thing, but it is:
[Edmonton bylaw enforcer] Mr. [David] Aitken said he is only aware of one other jurisdiction — Winnipeg — that was confronted with a similar problem. In December, 2003, a hotel owner was charged after patrons were caught smoking in a refurbished school bus that was decorated with tables, chairs and Christmas lights.
But Mr. Aitken said Winnipeg officials had more flexibility to lay charges in that situation because the smoking bylaw banned lighting up in all indoor public places; public places were defined as "where the public has access to."
Edmonton's bylaw isn't as broad, and only prohibits people from smoking in public buildings and/or structures, he added.
Despite the loophole, Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel has told reporters that bars should comply with the spirit of the law.
Loophole? Spirit of the law? What exactly is the spirit of this law if it's not to stop people from smoking in bars? I like to think I'm about as jaded as they come, but even accepting the scope of Edmonton's truly draconian regulations — which put those of Toronto, capital of Canada's Nanny Province™, to absolute shame — I cannot for the life of me understand why Edmonton thinks the Butt Bus is a problem.
Posted by Chris Selley at December 16, 2005 10:18 PM
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Comments
This isn't about people not smoking in bars. It's about non-smokers ganging up on smokers, who are seen as nothing but modern-day lepers. You heard it here first.
Posted by: Sloppo at December 16, 2005 11:39 PM
On a slightly less hysterical note, the City of Edmonton's triumphant pdf decrees on its front page, in 24pt Meta, that it bans smoking at all "...private social functions."
Private functions! Holy shit. I've elected to live in a country (Hungary) where the post office will still gladly steal stuff from your overseas package, and it's still quite easy to bribe the cops, but even still: you can smoke, unmolested, pretty much anywhere.
Suckers!
Posted by: Sloppo at December 16, 2005 11:49 PM
No boasting allowed unless you have a guest room.
Posted by: Colby Cosh at December 17, 2005 12:30 AM
Actually I do have a guest room, and Chris can attest to the sleepworthiness of the pullout couch, but you'd better make it quick: I give it another five years, tops, before these new EU members go the way of Ireland and Italy and ban smoking outright.
Come that time, though, the Hungarian, Czech, et al. post offices will probably still have sticky fingers. At which point places like Serbia start looking pretty attractive!
Posted by: Sloppo at December 17, 2005 05:09 AM