Winnipeg MB: Vaping Banned in Outdoor Public Spaces

Last October, the Canadian province of Manitoba passed a number of legislative changes pertaining to electronic cigarettes, including banning sales to minors, and new advertising and marketing regulations for the products.

Diane Caruana

March 27, 2018

Besides the $200 fine faced by anyone caught vaping, an owner or operator who fails to ensure that no one smokes or vapes on their outdoor patio will also face a fine of $400.

These changes also included banning vaping in public places where smoking is already prohibited, such as enclosed spaces. Subsequently last Thursday, the Winnipeg city council passed amendments to the outdoor smoking bylaw to ban smoking tobacco, cannabis and e-cigarettes on outdoor patios of public spaces, such as bars and restaurants.

Besides the $200 fine faced by anyone caught vaping, an owner or operator who fails to ensure that no one smokes or vapes on their outdoor patio will also face a fine of $400. “It’s good for Winnipeg,” said Coun. Mike Pagtakhan, chairman of the protection, community services and parks committee.

In a telephone survey of 600 randomly selected adults carried out between Sept. 21 and Oct. 10, the city council found that 76% of the participants supported the ban at restaurants and 58% supported the ban at bars. The results are considered reliable 95% of the time, said community bylaw enforcement manager Winston Yee.

Health Entities like Public Health England (PHE) have long been pointing out that forcing vapers to use their devices in smoking areas, not only sends the wrong message, but also undermines their efforts to quit.

“Implementation and compliance was achieved primarily through a combination of public and industry education, and providing support to business owners through a transition period,” he wrote. “Most municipalities reported limited need for enforcement due to general public acceptance and co-operation from business owners.”

Last January, Yee pointed out that bars may still allow smoking and vaping in outdoor areas where no food or drinks are served, but these areas must be permanent. “If you’re licensed by the appropriate authority to serve either liquor or food in that area, then you can’t say ‘This table, tonight, we’re going to have as a smoking area,'” he explained. “That’s not the intent of what our bylaw would be, nor would we allow that to occur.”

Is forcing vapers into smoking areas a good idea?

Following the 2016 findings indicating that vaping is at least 95% safer than smoking, the PHE had issued guidelines for employers to follow, in order to ensure that smokers who are transitioning to vaping feel supported and encouraged to switch to the safer alternatives.

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