Ontario To Ban Smoking On Restaurant And Bar Patios, Playgrounds

The Liberals will reintroduce a bill to ban smoking on all restaurant and bar patios in Ontario as well as children's playgrounds and publicly owned sports fields. | CP/Getty Images

TORONTO - Ontario will ban smoking on all restaurant and bar patios as well as at playgrounds and publicly owned sports fields starting Jan. 1, 2015, the Liberal government announced Friday.

Associate Health Minister Dipika Dameria said regulations will also be amended to ban the sale of tobacco on college and university campuses.

The changes to the Smoke Free Ontario Act will replace a patchwork of municipal regulations governing smoking on restaurant and bar patios, and will not hurt their businesses, she added.

"When we first introduced a ban on smoking inside restaurants and bars, there was a lot of concern raised that it would throw restaurants and bars out of business, but the evidence shows that did not happen," said Dameria.

"So we are very confident that there will be no adverse affects on restaurants and bars as we ban smoking on their patios.

The Progressive Conservatives support the changes but wonder why the Liberal government didn't do more to tackle the problem of contraband tobacco, which is often sold near colleges and universities at a fraction of the retail price.

"It doesn't address the fact that students can buy 200 cigarettes in a baggie for $8," said PC health critic Christine Elliott. "There's a lot more that needs to be done and I would really call on the government to start taking action on that front as well."

New Democrat France Gelinas fumed that the Liberals did not announce plans to reintroduce legislation that would extend a prohibition on sales of candy and fruit-flavoured tobacco products to youth to a total sales ban.

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Ontario To Ban Smoking On Restaurant And Bar Patios, Playgrounds