The mayor of Gibsons says the Town is willing to look into tougher smoking bylaws.
Gibsons was the last jurisdiction to hear Vancouver Coastal Health’s call for tougher smoking bylaws on the Sunshine Coast.
VCH wants local governments to draft bylaws that go beyond provincial minimums with things like bans for bar and restaurant patios. They’ve already made their pitch to Sechelt and the Sunshine Coast Regional District.
Caitlin Etherington of VCH says she did an informal survey of what’s already happening on the patios of Gibsons.
Etherington says of the three patios with no restrictions on smoking, only one patio owner was concerned about the bottom line; an issue that’s also come up in Sechelt. But she says with more than 80 per cent of the potential customer base looking for smoke free spaces patios that have smoking are losing out on that business.
A couple of years ago Gibsons drafted bylaws close to what VCH is hoping to see, but never adopted them. Sechelt has said it wants to do its own research before considering the idea, and the Sunshine Coast Regional District says it may not have the power to go as far as VCH is suggesting.
