30 years ago smoking in public places was banned in Vancouver — and smokers were outraged

It's a scene that looks completely foreign in Canadian cities today: smokers puffing away on cigarettes at their desks or over a hot meal in a busy restaurant. 

Yet 30 years ago smoking in public places was the norm across the country. 

But that wouldn't be the case for much longer in Vancouver — and many smokers were mightily displeased about it. 

In February 1986, Vancouver city council began to discuss banning smoking in most public places and at work. It was called the toughest smoking bylaw in the country. 

By December of that year, the bylaw was passed and being enforced. 

Strong opposition

Most people were in favour of the bylaw — especially health officers, who argued against the perils of second-hand smoke unwillingly inhaled by thousands every day.

Smokers had the right to smoke, they said, until it conflicted with the rights of non-smokers to breathe clean air. 

But there was strong opposition to the ban. 

At Langara College, many students continued to smoke in the cafeteria. The college's administration said it refused to enforce the bylaw. 

Interestingly, one of the city's strongest opponents was the federal government. It said the bylaw didn't apply to its offices or those of Crown corporations.

Restaurants follow suit

Ten years later, the city ban was extended to restaurants and cafes to also protect hospitality workers from second-hand smoke.

The bylaw was being enforced by May 1996, but many restaurant owners turned a blind eye to the issue and let smoking customers do as they please.

To enforce the bylaw, many of them said, would be disastrous for business, and they would be forced to lay off workers. 

The provincial government banned smoking in bars and restaurants across British Columbia by 2000 — although they could install enclosed smoking rooms.

Court challenge

That same year, the province also banned cigarettes in prisons — again, to protect workers there from second-hand smoke. 

Restaurateurs challenged the city and the province in court, arguing it wasn't up to restaurants to enforce their bylaws. Three months after the ban was in effect, the B.C. Supreme Court declared the province's law null and void.

But the city bylaw was still being enforced in Vancouver — much to the anger of restaurant and bar owners. 

By 2001, the province had reintroduced the ban. The Workers' Compensation Board argued, as it had before, that smoking in pubs and restaurants was a nuisance for workers there. 

The new law, which now included all provincial office buildings, was put in effect by 2002. 

By 2008, smoking was prohibited in public spaces province-wide, and the city added a 6-metre no-smoking buffer zone around building entryways and on patios.

The limits on lighting up continued, with Vancouver banning smoking in parks in 2010, and Metro Vancouver following in 2012.