The next time you walk into the St. Albert Inn you may notice something a little different and you can blame it on the city's smoking ban. Michael Mazepa, who began operating the business in 1976, says that since the non smoking law in bars and lounges came into effect on July 1st of this year, he has seen a dramatic drop in business.
"Over the years the cocktail lounge has supported itself and made profit and these days it's not, so I'm making the business decision now" says Mazepa, who has seen a 65 per cent drop in revenue in just the last two months.
The common opinion many business owners, including Mazepa, have heard over and over again of course is that, while they may experience an initial drop in clientele, too disgruntled or perhaps pissed off to come in because they can't smoke, traffic will eventually pick up as people get used to being told they have to interrupt their evening out at a pub to go outside to feed their cravings. Mazepa doesn't buy it for a second.
"Smoking is a stupid habit but it's also a personal choice" he says, stressing that the same logic should apply to the business owner. "If a non- smoking customer comes into the lounge and later complains to me about the stink, it is up to me as a businessman to make a decision whether I should cater to the smoker or to the non-smoker. It's my decision to make".
Rather than seeing it legislated and imposed, Mazepa like so many others, would have preferred to make the call to go smoke-free based on the demand from clients---not legislators or the non-smoking majority.
I heard the same tune from the owner of a delightful Italian eatery in St. Albert. Nello Saporito opened his restaurant just eight months ago and catered to adult clientele only; allowing people to have the choice to smoke inside his establishment.
"They came to Nello's for the food, dropped a couple of hundred dollars on a fine bottle of wine, smoked and drank and business was good---it's not the case now" says Saporito as we sit at a crisply dressed table at the front of his empty restaurant---it's 6:30 on a weeknight and only three tables are being used.
But what really gets this restaurateur, is again that despite the fact he owns the place and pays considerable taxes he is being told what to do and how to do it.
"The City has no right to tell me how to deal with my customers. Non smokers can find non-smoking places and I should be able to serve who I want to. It's my business so where is the freedom?"
That attitude seems vaguely familiar? When the province imposed seatbelt laws many Albertans were disgruntled about being told what to do inside their vehicles. After all, it seems like a personal choice to buckle up. But it's not.
"It's not because at one point the safety, health and preservation of life outweigh to a certain extent personal freedom" says St.Albert's Mayor Paul Chalifoux
He agrees some establishments are hurting because of the smoking ban but adds that the secret to a successful business is the ability to keep up with the trends as the playing-field changes.
"You don't operate in a vacuum---you operate in a context of societal laws". It is some of these societal laws, and the trend to put limits on how people chose to lead their lives and, as in this case who businesses can cater to, that have some concerned.
"What are they going to ban next?" asks Mazepa, who is by the way laying-off four full-time employees from the Inn's cocktail lounge as a result of the smoking ban.
He thinks smoking is flat out "stupid and unhealthy" but, he adds, "so are fatty foods." Same sentiments from Saporito, as he expresses his disappointment and disillusionment.
"I came to this country years and years ago because there was freedom -- but where is the freedom now?" I looked this fifty-something Italian in the eye and asked---"what about the freedom of your employees to work in an environment that won't put them at risk of lung cancer"?
He smirks, "all of my employees---every single one---smokes. They don't care".
Smoking is an unhealthy and potentially deadly habit but we return to the human rights issue---it is a choice. Am I sympathetic to the rights of smokers? Absolutely, I indulge myself. Am I against the smoking ban? No. I enjoy the clean air in pubs and bars these days. It's refreshing to come home and not reek like an ashtray that has been left sitting unattended for days.
But the fact remains that if a smoker dishes out an average of $10 per pack, with much of it going into provincial and federal coffers, he should have access to restaurants or pubs that have the choice to cater to smokers only. The only way to make the smoking ban--- and the cited reasons for it--- fair, is if cigarettes are outlawed all together, say many of the people I talked to for this series.
So far that has officially happened in only one place in the entire world--- Bhutan. The Himalayan kingdom made history in December of 2004 when it banned all tobacco sales and smoking in public in an effort to become a smoke- free nation. Simple and genuine.
Smoking in our society A special two-part series in Saint City News Freelance writer, and admitted smoker, Agnieszka Wyka delves into society's perception of smoking and how it has evolved. Today, in part two of the series,Wyka talks with some business owners at the end of the busy summer season to find out what impact the smoking ban had.
Bar profits smoked out
By FRANK LANDRY, CITY HALL BUREAU
September 1, 2005
Edmonton's two-month-old butt ban is taking a big bite out of business, some outraged bar and restaurant operators are charging.
And that may leave establishments with little choice but to raise prices in order to make up for the mounting losses, says an industry spokesman.
"Consumer prices are going to go up for menu items," Lindy Rollingson, president and CEO of the Alberta Restaurant and Foodservices Association, said yesterday. "There just isn't anywhere else to move."
Rollingson estimated profits are down an average of 25-40% at restaurants, casinos and bingo halls since the smoking ban kicked in July 1.
Charlene Watt, manager and head waitress at Trav's Restaurant and Silver Bullet Bar, 4704 97 St., said her sales have "dropped unbelievably." Watt said she used to take in between $800-$1,000 during a shift, but now that's closer to $300-$400.
"It's like a ghost town in here because of the smoking ban," Watt said.
"There are no smokers. They were the ones paying the bills."
Coun. Mike Nickel, who was opposed to the butt ban, said there's little that can be done about it now - and council will certainly not revisit the issue.
"It's here and so now we're just going to have to deal with it," Nickel said. "I've talked to councillors. It's a non-starter."
Not all bars and restaurants are feeling the pinch.
Blaine Stewart, general manager of The Iron Horse Eatery and Watering Hole, located at 8101 103 St., said his establishment is still hopping.
"People aren't going to not come to Whyte Avenue or the Iron Horse because they can't have a cigarette," Stewart said. "They don't come here just to smoke. They come for the experience and to have a good time."
Johnstown bingo hall to close soon
By DEREK ABMA Staff Writer
August 31, 2005
JOHNSTOWN -- There will be no more screams of "bingo" at Bingo International, just east of Prescott, after September 28.
The 43 charities and community organizations that use the facility for fund-raising events have been informed the last bingo session will take place that night.
John Goodwin, who owns Bingo International Limited with his wife Fran, said attendance has been declining at the bingo hall for the past few years, particularly in the last year.
He said he and his wife, who are retired, have lost "a lot" of money on their struggling bingo business recently, though he would not say how much.
Goodwin said attendance is down about 40 per cent from its peak in the late 1990s. Bingo International opened in 1998.
There were many factors at work in the decline of the bingo hall's popularity, but Goodwin said the final straw would have been the provincewide smoking ban that takes effect next May.
"In Ottawa, for example, when they brought in non-smoking, the bingo halls experienced a 40 per cent decline in attendance," he said. "We wouldn't have been able to withstand a five per cent decline."
Since opening the bingo hall, Goodwin said more competition for people's entertainment money has emerged, such as the Rideau Carleton Raceway slot machines in south Ottawa and the Thousand Islands Charity Casino in Gananoque.
"When Gananoque opened (in 2002), we did experience a decline right when they opened," he said. "And it was quite a decline ... It still affects us. It's the one that affects us the most."
Goodwin said many people are going to be hurt by the bingo hall's closure, including the 25 people he employs.
He also said the community will feel the impact because of the lost revenue source for more than 40 organizations that used his bingo hall to raise dollars.
"It was a good venue for some of them to raise money, certainly a lot easier than selling apples on the corner," Goodwin said.
One of the groups that will be affected by the bingo hall's closure is the South Grenville Minor Hockey Association, which was holding two events each month at Bingo International.
Carolyn Mason, secretary for the association, said an emergency meeting will be held tonight to talk about the financial impact of the bingo hall's closure and how to respond.
She said players' fees have already been paid for the upcoming season. Although the organization does not want to go back to parents for more money, Mason said that might be necessary.
"If you just can imagine the price of ice at $100 an hour and 400 kids registered, it's going to hurt somebody," Mason said.
Another group that uses the bingo hall for fund-raising is Girls Incorporated of Upper Canada, which provided various leadership and skills-development programs for females aged six to 18.
Donna Perrin, the group's executive director, said the group is out about $4,500 this year because of the bingo hall closure, when considering the twice-a-month events that would have been held during the last three months of the year.
She said programs will be reduced, but it has not been decided what will be cut.
Perrin said agencies such as Girls Incorporated that receive funding from the United Way are in a particularly tough spot.
With the United Way launching its annual fund-raising campaign next week, affiliated organizations are not permitted to do their own fund-raising until the United Way's campaign ends in December.
Perrin said she has thought about asking the United Way of Leeds and Grenville for leniency on this provision.
"The thought has certainly crossed my mind," she said. "I'm not sure how open they would be. I do plan on talking with the executive director (Judi Baril) and giving her this new information."
Steve MacArthur, owner of Bingoland Brockville, said he has told Goodwin he will, as much as possible, accommodate agencies that are using Bingo International for fund-raising.
McArthur said he will also consider hiring employees of Bingo International.
Burty Bob's shutting down
July 06, 2005
By Times-Journal Staff
It was a last hurrah, the Vote Aaron party last night at Burty Bob's.
Last call for the once-popular downtown St. Thomas club is Saturday, manager Ray Daniels said last night.
Daniels blamed inequitable enforcement of the city's smoking ban.
He named another bar which he says openly defies the ban, and which has attracted his business as a result.
"We're the ones abiding by it, and we're the ones closing down," he said.
"I call that ironic."
Daniels said the club has a staff of 23 employees, mostly part-time.
They were told of the closure last week.
