Watch above: After a lot of debate, change will be coming to Churchill Square. But now council is wondering if more city-run places should be included. Vinesh Pratap reports.
EDMONTON — Edmonton’s Churchill Square will soon be smoke-free after city council voted Wednesday to move ahead to ban smoking in the popular downtown location.
“I think we made the right decision today,” said Ward 10 councillor Michael Walters, who originally brought the idea to City Hall earlier this year.
“This is our central city square that we attract families to for all kinds of programming and all kinds of events. And where we have families and lots of kids, we should create the conditions where they can have a smoke-free environment.”
READ MORE: ‘I’m not trying to ostracize anybody’: Councillor Walters on smoking ban in Churchill Square
While there was much support for the blanket ban on smoking in Churchill Square, the vote was not unanimous
“This strikes me as just another way to push people that don’t have a lot of other places to go, for whom the square was built just as much as anybody else,” said Ward 8 councillor Ben Henderson.
“What we’re going to end up doing, ironically, is probably pushing them out to the sidewalk where they will now be smoking in the way of the people who are using the sidewalk to walk by.”
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The debate about smoking in the City of Edmonton isn’t over, though. Ward 5 councillor, Michael Oshry, is calling for a report to see what a smoking ban could look like at other city facilities with large outdoor spaces such as the Valley Zoo and Fort Edmonton Park.
“Maybe we should be expanding this and looking at doing this at all city-run facilities indoor or out,” said Oshry. “In a public venue like a city-owned facility, I think there is an onus on the city to make sure it’s enjoyable for everybody and I think that’s something that we need to look at.”
Mayor Don Iveson, who supported the Churchill Square smoking ban, is looking forward to seeing the report.
“It seems odd that we haven’t looked at that up until this point for some of those facilities, so I think the information will be helpful for council,” he said Wednesday. “We want these spaces to be clean, inviting and healthy. And clean air is a part of that.”
That report is expected back at council in about three months.
Walters says there will be no addition enforcement expenses for the smoking ban in Churchill Square, which will come into place sometime in the new year. Those caught smoking in the square will be warned and could face a fine of up to $250.
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