Council approves hookah ban
Posted Aug 31, 2016 06:47:38 AM.
Last Updated Aug 31, 2016 12:45:53 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA – Ottawa City Council has voted overwhelmingly in favour of a bylaw banning hookah and water pipes in public places and restaurants
The bylaw goes into effect in December, but Bylaw Officers won’t start fining businesses until next April.
Gloucester Ward Councillor Michael Qaqish proposed delaying the implementation of the bylaw, based on concerns from consultations with owners of lounges and businesses that would be affected by the change, but Mayor Jim Watson said the City has been progressive in implementing smoke-free policies that affected other operations in the past.
Osgoode Councillor George Darouze was the only one who voted against a ban at the committee level, on the basis that smoking a hookah is a cultural thing.
Darouze, who is from Lebanon, told Metro earlier this week that hookah is different from tobacco.
He said it’s a social activity and to ban it would mean City Council is singling out a group of people.
