The city of Prince George is touting its new proposed bylaw to restrict outdoor smoking and use of vaporizers as the strongest in northern B.C.
Draft legislation approved by city council on Monday night currently includes prohibitions from smoking and vaping at bus shelters or areas where people wait for buses and taxis, city-owned or leased facilities, parks and opens spaces bar and restaurant patios and within nine metres of any building's door, window or air intake.
A two-month consultation process on the proposed bylaw begins Sept. 15.
This week, Quesnel's city council received a round of feedback on their own proposed smoking bylaw. More than two-thirds of respondents to an online survey indicated support for banning smoking in public spaces, with 85 per cent agreeing that a focus should be placed on areas where there have been complaints and where children gather.
An initial draft of Quesnel's bylaw included e-cigarettes, but the most recent version presented to council recommended removing it "due to there being conflicting opinions on the benefits and hazards," said a staff report.
The most common reasons provided to the city for not supporting the new rule included individual's rights, the legality of smoking, the city having other issues to deal with and enforcement concerns.
Those in favour of the bylaw also referred to individual's rights, health and fire concerns, odour issues and for children to not be exposed.
Unlike the Prince George bylaw, the Quesnel rule doesn't include any restrictions on patios or increase the provincial three-metre boundary for smoking near public or workplace entrances.
Up north, Dawson Creek is well into life with its smoking regulation bylaw, which was adopted at the beginning of January.
The bylaw is closer to the Prince George proposal, with specific restrictions on smoking in taxis and on buses or at shelters, at outdoor venues, or where ticketed sporting events are happening.
There are no restrictions on the use of e-cigarettes in the Dawson Creek bylaw and smoking is allowed on restaurant and bar patios, but only if the space is restricted to use by people over the age of 19.
Dawson Creek also extended the province's three-metre buffer for smoking near entryways to 7.5 metres.
However, unlike Prince George's proposal, the stipulation is for public entrances. That 7.5 metre rule also applies to Dawson Creek's prescribed smoke free areas at city playgrounds and playing fields, unlike the 25-metre boundary outlined in the Prince George bylaw.
Feedback on the Dawson Creek bylaw featured many of the same comments that came forward in the Quesnel survey, including support for protecting children from secondhand smoke, queries about creating designated smoking areas and concern over they bylaw's enforceability.
Like the majority of the city's bylaws, the smoking regulations are enforced on a complaint-only basis. The legislation expressly states that its intent is to set standards in the general public interest "and not to impose a duty on the city or its employees to enforce its provisions."
Prince George bylaw services manager Fred Crittenden said that in speaking with Dawson Creek staff, they've only had one bylaw-infraction complaint since it came into effect.
