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CITY OF VANCOUVER

SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES

JUNE 14, 2000

A Special Meeting of the Council of the City of Vancouver was held on Wednesday, June 14, 2000 at 7:35 p.m. in the Council Chamber, Third Floor, City Hall for the purpose of hearing delegations on Smoke Free By-law Amendments.

PRESENT:	Mayor Philip Owen Councillor Lynne Kennedy Councillor Daniel Lee Councillor Don Lee Councillor Sandy McCormick Councillor George Puil
ABSENT:	Councillor Fred Bass (Conflict of Interest) Councillor Jennifer Clarke (Civic Business) Councillor Tim Louis (Leave of Absence) Councillor Gordon Price (Civic Business) Councillor Sam Sullivan (Leave of Absence)
CITY CLERK'S OFFICE:	Diane M. Clairmont, Meeting Coordinator

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

MOVED by Cllr. Don Lee,
SECONDED by Cllr. McCormick,

THAT this Council resolve itself into Committee of the Whole, Mayor Owen in the Chair, for the purpose of hearing delegations on Smoke Free By-law Amendments.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Councillor Fred Bass declared Conflict of Interest. His conflict arises from his occasional receipt of a per diem allowance from the BC Medical Association for attending meetings of the Council on Health Promotion as Chair of the Tobacco and Illness Committee. The Councillor left the meeting at 7:40 p.m. and did not participate in the discussion or votingon this item.

1. Smoke Free By-law Amendments File: 4105

Vancouver City Council, at its meeting on April 4, 2000, approved Recommendation A and Recommendation B, both as set out below from Policy Report dated March 30, 2000, on Smoke Free By-law Amendments.

A. THAT the Vancouver Health By-law # 6580 be amended to incorporate smoke-free provisions in adult-oriented establishments generally as described in Appendix A of the Policy Report dated March 30, 2000.

B. That consideration of the following recommendation be referred to a meeting of Council at which time speakers will be heard only on the size of the smoking room and ventilation options:

"THAT the Vancouver Health By-law #6580 be amended to remove the 5 square metre limitation from the requirements for a smoking room, leaving in place a 10% of publicly accessible floor area as a maximum size limit."

Accordingly, arrangements were made to hear speakers..

Nick Losito, Director, Environment Health, briefly reviewed the report, noted the following recent developments and responded to questions:
· Workers' Compensation Board hearings on this issue are in progress
· amendments would not take effect until October 2000 at the earliest
· Richmond has amended its By-law which is effective June 26, 2000
· the Liquor Licensing Branch may be rethinking its position on smoking rooms, but has not announced a definitive position as yet

The following spoke in favour of the recommendation:
Tim Hutchison, Advanced IAQ Technologies Inc. (brief filed)

Wendy Thompson, Planet Bingo/Mt. Pleasant Starship Community Charitable Assn. (brief filed)

Gillan Jackson, Vancouver resident
Angus Praught, Co-owner/General Manager, Royal Hotel

Speakers' comments included:
· air quality equipment is available that can meet or be customized to meet ASHRAE standards
· considerable investment has been made by some operators to move towards a non-smoking environment
· if this amendment is not approved, many charities will lose a valuable revenue source; there has been no consideration of how this revenue would be replaced

Clause No. 1 (cont'd)

· while the recommendation is a step in the right direction, consideration should be given to both clientele demographics and buildings that cannot accommodate a patio
· in some establishments, employees have incurred wage losses due to reduced clientele and are in favour of smoking rooms

The following spoke in opposition to the recommendation:
Errol Povah, Delta resident
Steven Hammond, Vancouver resident
Robert Broughton, President, Airspace Action on Smoking and Health
Eli Gershkovitch, Owner, Steamworks Brewing Co.
Ben Wiens, Coquitlam resident
Ginny Lovelidge, North Delta resident
Hugh Lindor, Mission resident

Speakers' comments included:

· City enforcement relating to smoking rooms would be difficult
· employees who do not want to work in smoking rooms could be intimidated
· there has been minimal outcry from patrons who can no longer smoke inside
· many smoking employees prefer non-smoking environment
· while there has been an initial loss of revenue for some establishments due to ban on smoking , this is expected to rebound to previous levels
· installation and maintenance problems occur when large areas need to be ventilated; therefore, consistency and compliance could be a problem
· no ventilation system can effectively remove all particulate material and carcinogens.

Mr. Losito noted that since 1995 there has been little industry interest regarding smoking rooms; plans would be reviewed before system installation; inspectors could quickly assess ventilation rates, and response to complaints would be immediate. Non-compliance could result in shut-down. He also responded to questions regarding size of smoking rooms related to various categories of establishments.

MOVED by Cllr. Kennedy,

THAT staff provide a report by the next Council meeting with information regarding the impact and size of smoking rooms based on the proposed 10% figure and types of establishments.

- LOST

(Mayor Owen and Councillors Don Lee and Puil opposed)

Clause No. 1 (cont'd)

MOVED by Cllr. Puil,

THAT the Vancouver Health By-law #6580 be amended to remove the 5 square metre limitation from the requirements for a smoking room, leaving in place a 10% of publicly accessible floor area as a maximum size limit.

- amended

AMENDMENT MOVED by Cllr. McCormick,

THAT Councillor Puil's motion regarding square metre limitation requirements for a smoking room be amended to stipulate the publicly accessible floor area be set at 10% up to a maximum of 250 sq. ft.

- CARRIED

(Mayor Owen and Councillor Puil opposed)

MOTION AS AMENDED

THAT the Vancouver Health By-law #6580 be amended to remove the 5 square metre limitation from the requirements for a smoking room, leaving in place a 10% of publicly accessible floor area up to 250 sq. ft. as a maximum size limit.

- CARRIED

(Councillors Kennedy and Puil opposed)
- - - - -

RISE FROM COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

MOVED by Cllr. Don Lee,

THAT the Committee of the Whole rise and report.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

ADOPT REPORT OF COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

MOVED by Cllr. Don Lee,
SECONDED by Cllr. McCormick,

THAT the report of the Committee of the Whole be adopted.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

The Special Council adjourned at 9:40 p.m.
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(c) 1998 City of Vancouver