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Fines to target owners
SMOKERS DON'T HAVE TO GIVE ID
By ZEN RURYK, CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF
Most butt out, a few don't
Who you gonna call?
TORONTO HEALTH officials vow to take a zero-tolerance approach to enforcing the city's butt ban in bars. The city has eight inspectors working full-time on enforcing Toronto's no-smoking bylaw.
"They work hours that are in line with the hospitality industry -- evenings, weekends ... overnight in some cases," Ron Colvin, of Toronto's health department, said.
Inspectors will primarily rely on complaints when enforcing the smoking rules, although they will also conduct some spot checks.
$225 FOR FIRST OFFENCE
They'll typically issue $255 tickets for those charged with a first offence. Repeat offenders can face fines as high as $5,000.
"Our enforcement staff are instructed to first look for compliance on behalf of the proprietor," Colvin says. "If the proprietor is not taking any action whatsoever to prevent smoking in their establishment, that's going to be our focus entirely."
However, if bar owners are doing everything in their power to ensure patrons comply with the bylaw, the enforcement officers will target customers who light up, Colvin says.
NO LEGAL AUTHORITY
However, a health department spokesman adds that it can be difficult to go after patrons because inspectors have no authority to require people to produce identification. As a result, it's expected that inspectors will charge owner- operators of the establishments rather than individuals.
While inspectors were on the job last night, it will likely be today before any charges are laid.
In the event they believe a pub owner has violated the bylaw, inspectors want to check licensing information to ensure they have correctly identified the proprietor before formally filing charges.
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