Two years after the public shisha smoking ban was implemented and ten years after the first complaints were made, Edmonton city council members will once more discuss whether the bylaw needs to be reviewed.
The council doesn’t seem to agree on whether the change is necessary or just a waste of time and money.
Councilwoman Jo-Anne Wright of Ward Sspomitapi put out a motion on Friday in an effort to get city employees to collaborate with the shisha industry.
She claimed to have heard complaints that the impacted cultural communities were not sufficiently consulted throughout the 2019 debate.
Avnish Nanda, an attorney for the Edmonton Hookah Ethnic Society, claims there were public consultations but that particular cultural groups were not consulted.
It’s not the same as saying, “Hey, we’re affecting your neighbourhood, and you might not even understand English; let’s figure out what your thoughts are,” Nanda said.
Advocates for hookah said that the restriction had forced the sector underground, prompting a review of the ban in 2021.
Numerous health advocates have expressed worries about the dangers and potential addiction of smoking, even in the absence of tobacco, including Alberta Health Services.
At the time, councillors said they wanted assurances there could be changes to ventilation to ensure there were no ill effects of the second hand smoke.
They can now provide it, according to Nanda.
Nanda explained that the lounges would have designated shisha smoking areas. “We went and we hired an engineer and we developed a modelling programme and engineered a solution where no shisha consumed and no smoke that was released would be exposed to any of the staff members at any of the shisha lounges.”
Councillor Wright told Global News on Friday, “I simply believe it’s an opportunity for them to bring back the work and attempt to alleviate some of the OHS issues that AHS brought forth. They’ve done the work that was requested of them back when council debated it in ’20 and ’21.
Tim Cartmell, a councilman from the Ward pihêsiwin, opposed the action.
“I don’t see anything here that makes me think we should revisit this,”
When the ban was discussed and approved, Cartmell was a council member.
It became effective on July 1 2020. He claimed that going over the bylaw once again would cost time and money.
Beginning in January, our administration will have a month-long budget discussion that will involve a variety of tasks, according to Cartmell.
Redoing the previous work detracts from the actual new work, according to the author.
Wright, who wasn’t on council when the conversation took place, disagrees.
I do appreciate the time the previous council spent on it, she added, but I don’t believe they were necessarily given access to all the data, information, and further work the industry had completed.
All of council should have a say in the following decisions, the Community and Public Services Committee determined.
On November 14, they will determine whether to review the ban with more consultations or not, depending on the results of the discussion.
The city staff would be requested to submit specifics on prospective modifications by the summer of 2023 if they proceeded.
Council members in Edmonton will review the shisha ban despite ten years of discussion
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