Smoking out violators
Province fines fifth city hookah lounge for pandemic health-order breach
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/08/2020 (1882 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Another Winnipeg café and hookah lounge has been fined by the provincial government for breaching public health orders implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In total, five local hookah spots have been fined for violating public health orders since late May.
Layla’s Café and Hookah Lounge, located Scurfield Boulevard, was fined $486 last Friday for failing to “comply with the special measures prescribed… by (the) chief public health officer,” according to the province’s latest Health Protection Report.
“Layla’s Café and Hookah Lounge was serving hookah…. Guidance on compliance was provided. The public health orders prohibit the operation of hookah lounges,” a provincial spokeswoman said in a written statement.
Layla’s Café did not respond to a Free Press request for comment Thursday.
A hookah is an instrument traditionally used to smoke shisha, a mixture of tobacco and molasses sugar or fruit. Under normal circumstances, some Winnipeg restaurants operate as hookah lounges by offering customers the ability to smoke tobacco-free herbal shisha.
Layla’s Café is the latest local hookah lounge to be hit with a fine.
On Aug. 11, Siraj Café and Lounge on Corydon Avenue received four tickets totalling $10,168 for violating current public health orders. And it wasn’t the first time; the owner was fined $2,542 on July 20 for another health violation.
Other hookah lounges cited for violations include 7 Arabian Dreams on Corydon Avenue (Aug. 1, $2,542); Ramallah Café After Hours on Pembina Highway (May 28, $486); and Arabesque Hookah Café and Lounge on Corydon Avenue (May 27, $5,542).
A provincial spokeswoman did not respond to requests for information on those fines.
Free Press requests for comment were ignored by all but Ramallah Café After Hours, who said the fine issued May 28 was for violating social-distancing guidelines, not for allowing people to smoke hookahs.
He said the restaurant was initially confused about the rules but has since complied with public health orders.
ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca