The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Saskatchewan bar and lounge owners remain hopeful their bid for a compromise in the upcoming public smoking ban will succeed. The Hotels Association of Saskatchewan wants the establishments to have the option of installing a designated smoking room for customers who light up. "We've had a lot of support from the public, even from non-smokers," said association spokesman Tom Mullin. Mullin and a group of bar and lounge owners have scheduled a meeting with three cabinet ministers for the end of the month to discuss the concept. "From that meeting, we'll hopefully get some kind of compromise," he said. The proposed smoking rooms would either be non-staffed or outfitted with a ventilation system to keep the smoke to a minimum. The provincial government has set aside $75 million to cover losses in tax revenue from gaming and liquor it expects will stem from the ban. Mullin said that's proof the government knows the legislation will be devastating to businesses, and he hopes that means there will be room for an exception to the ban. "We will work with the government on a solution because (the ban) has the potential to be a major hit to rural Saskatchewan and a lot of bars in the cities as well," he said. But when it comes to the smoking ban, the government doesn't appear willing to budge. "It's a new world, and in this new world, we're intent on stopping smoking in public places," Minister of Finance Harry Van Mulligen told CBC, "and so there's a challenge here for businesses and others to adapt to this new world." A number of Saskatchewan bar and lounge owners say they simply can't afford to go smoke-free. Some might feel compelled to disobey the ban, as has happened in an estimated two dozen establishments in Manitoba, where a ban took effect Oct. 1. Mullin predicted a ban with no compromise would cost the hospitality industry and provincial government millions of dollars in lost business and tax revenue, and result in hundreds of pink slips being handed out. The hardest hit by the ban would be the smaller bars and lounges in rural Saskatchewan, he said.
