Watch above: It’s a popular spot for festivals or just to have lunch on a nice day. Vinesh Pratap has more on the idea to ban smoking in Churchill Square.
EDMONTON — The debate over a possible smoking ban in Churchill Square is heating up at City Hall.
“I’m not trying to ostracize anybody, I’m trying to create a healthy square where, when it’s programmed heavily for children, we say that you can’t smoke here,” said Ward 10 City Councillor Michael Walters.
Walters initially brought up the idea of banning smoking in the popular square in July, after noticing that cigarette smoke was deterring some people from visiting the area, particularly during the busy summer festival season.
While Walters says most people already separate themselves from crowds when they smoke, there’s still “too many people that don’t.”
“Any other tools that we can create to make more people separate themselves from crowds when they smoke is important and useful.”
READ MORE: Should Churchill Square become smoke-free?
The topic was up for discussion again on Wednesday during a Community Services Committee meeting.
While Walters believes an all out ban on smoking in Churchill Square is the way to go, Ward 8 councillor Ben Henderson says he would rather see a smoking ban put in place only during busy city events.
“I’m not sure we have a role to step in if someone is just sitting there, sort of later in the afternoon when everybody else is around. We have been trying to encourage people to use the square for casual use and I just don’t want to put impediments in place that start pushing people away from the square,” said Henderson.
“I just think we’re shooting ourselves in the foot if we do that.”
However, Walters says it would be hard to define which events would fall under that type of ban and which wouldn’t. With nearly 500 events in the square each year, Walters believes it’s best to keep it simple.
“The original intent was to ban smoking in the square.”
While there are still details to work out, Mayor Don Iveson agrees with Walters; he supports a blanket ban on smoking in the square.
“If we want it to be a family friendly space I think it’s not a big imposition for people to walk to the sidewalk or cross the street to smoke a cigarette,” he said Wednesday. “We don’t want to create a smoking lounge in Churchill Square, which it sometimes is. And it’s really bad during festivals.
“I think it’s better to just keep it simple and ask people not to smoke in the square at any time.”
In April 2012, the City of Edmonton banned smoking within 10 metres of playgrounds, spray parks, outdoor rinks and sports fields. Smoking cigarettes is also banned around City Hall’s wading pool.
The topic has been pushed up to city council, where it will be debated next week.
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