City's hookah crackdown shifts focus to customers
The City of Ottawa's crackdown on hookah bars appears to have shifted focus, and is now targeting the customers found smoking in the establishments.
At least six people were recently fined $385 each under the city's water pipes in public places and workplaces bylaw, which went into effect Dec. 1, 2016. The bylaw prohibits the use of water pipes in enclosed public places, enclosed workplaces, and outdoor restaurant and bar patios — in other words, anywhere where tobacco smoking is outlawed.
Under the bylaw, both hookah lounge proprietors and patrons can be fined, but it's believed that until now, only proprietors have received tickets.
At Cafe Bab El-Hara on Bank Street near Walkley Road, manager Haider El-Cheikh said he was surprised when bylaw officers came in last Friday afternoon and ticketed a customer at his establishment.
"Customers are vulnerable," he said. "They shouldn't be getting ticketed at all."
El-Cheikh said he's worried the crackdown on customers will hurt his business.
"They're going to be scared to come out," said El-Cheikh. "Nobody wants a $400 ticket."
Customers photographed
At Bay Rock Café in South Keys, a similar scene unfolded last Friday when bylaw officers entered the restaurant around 5 p.m. According to Julia Moussa, the restaurant's owner, the officers ticketed people smoking shisha, as well as customers sitting nearby.
"We had no idea that customers would be ticketed," said Moussa. "I think it's absolutely ridiculous that someone would be ticketed $400 to smoke shisha."
Not only were customers ticketed, but they were also photographed against their wishes, according to Moussa.
"The people, they were shying away from that and telling [the bylaw officers] they don't want their pictures taken," said Moussa. The bylaw officers photographed them anyway, she said.
In an email response from the city, Roger Chapman, chief of bylaw enforcement, said the photographs are taken for "evidentiary purposes."
Legal challenge
The city said it spent last fall and winter engaging in an "education phase" before beginning to enforce the water pipe ban on April 3.
In addition to the tickets handed out to customers, as of last Friday bylaw officers had issued 20 fines to business owners. The tickets include a $305 fine plus another $80 for the victim fine surcharge and other charges.
Lawyer Lawrence Greenspon has filed a legal challenge on behalf of a number of hookah establishments in the city, arguing the ban infringes on cultural rights.
The challenge is before the Superior Court of Justice and is scheduled to be heard Feb. 8, 2018.
Moussa and El-Cheikh said they'll continue serving shisha until the court reaches a final decision.
