Councillors direct city staff to create hookah-banning bylaw

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This article was published 20/11/2023 (741 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When the smoke clears, Winnipeggers hoping to hang out in hookah lounges might be out of luck.

That’s because councillors on the city’s community services committee directed civic staff to create a bylaw that bans public hookah use indoors and on patios.

“It’s a health concern for Winnipeggers and Manitobans…. We need to prioritize health over the consumption of any type of smoking products,” Coun. Evan Duncan, the committee’s chairman, told reporters after the vote.

The bylaw would be enforced through occupancy permit applications or after a public complaint.

If council approves the bylaw request, the final product will return for another vote, allowing time for affected businesses to weigh in, said Duncan (Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood).

“They’re going to have their voices heard,” he said. “They’ll be able to speak in delegation. But at the end of the day, I believe that this was an oversight that we should have addressed this on Day 1.”

Duncan said he’s not sure if a bylaw would allow any exemptions to let existing lounges continue offering the service.

Debate at city council about hookah lounges began in January, when Coun. Cindy Gilroy raised a motion calling for staff to study adding new rules and safety standards for the lounges, such as imposing strict ventilation requirements.

Gilroy expressed concerns the activity could create poor air quality.

In traditional hookah use, the multi-pronged water pipe can be used to smoke shisha, a mixture of tobacco and molasses, sugar or fruit, a social activity common elsewhere in the world, including the Middle East and India.

While the Manitoba government has banned smoking and vaping tobacco in indoor public places, Winnipeg restaurants are able to operate as hookah lounges by offering customers the choice of smoking tobacco-free shisha.

Duncan noted the city does not have an inspection process to keep track of the substances used for smoking in the lounges.

A new bylaw would complement other laws that ban smoking in public places, which have been enforced in Winnipeg for years, he said.

The Free Press connected with several hookah-lounge owners who pushed back against the proposal Monday, including Sammy Zeid, owner of Habibiz Cafe at 1373 Portage Ave.

“Some argue that hookah smoking provides an alternative social activity that may be perceived as less harmful than other activities,” he said, pointing to consuming alcohol and cigarettes as more dangerous alternatives.

“Hookah lounges contribute to the economy by providing jobs and generating revenue for local businesses. A ban could lead to job losses and negatively impact the hospitality industry.”

Zeid noted that his business and others use tobacco-free shisha, and urged council to consider the role such cafes and lounges play in local ethnic communities.

“Hookah smoking has a long history in various cultures, and for many people, it is considered a social and cultural tradition. Hookah lounges and cafes are popular in many parts of the world, providing spaces for people to come together, socialize and enjoy the experience of hookah smoking,” he said.

Meanwhile, people who oppose the activity argue both tobacco and non-tobacco versions may expose both users and bystanders to hazardous air pollutants, including carbon monoxide.

“We certainly are supportive (of the proposed ban),” Neil Johnston, president of the Manitoba Lung Association, told the Free Press. “Whether it contains tobacco or not, there is actually no safe level of exposure to hookah smoke.”

Johnston has rallied in favour of an indoor ban on hookah smoking since at least 2020, along with other public-health organizations, including the Manitoba Tobacco Reduction Alliance, Action on Smoking and Health and Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Such bans are already in place in Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador and on a municipal level in Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver, he said.

“This is a long time coming. We are not the first to do this, other jurisdictions have,” Johnston said. “We’re not saying we should ban hookah and people couldn’t use it in their homes… but when it comes to second-hand smoke and exposing others, we have concerns.”

Staff working in businesses where hookah is consumed experience consistent, long-term exposure to the smoke, Johnston said.

He noted health advocates have raised the issue to the municipal and provincial governments in recent years.

If the industry been regulated earlier, it may have discouraged entrepreneurs from investing in hookah lounges and subsequently losing money as a result of a ban, he said.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca