Halifax's smoking bylaw is still a smoldering issue.
As it stands, it will soon be illegal to smoke or vape anywhere on municipal land, except in designated areas.
Some council members want to fire up the debate again and some members of the public hope they will.
Some protesters stood outside City Hall Tuesday, chanting “Revise the smoking ban! Nobody's smoking near your kids, leave us alone!"
Halifax's proposed bylaw to prohibit smoking in most areas of the municipality continues to generate debate -- both inside and outside council chambers.
"If you’re not going to enforce the bylaw, then why even have the bylaw? It's a bad law,” one protester told three councillors who went outside to speak with them.
The protest reminded councillors the issue isn't going away quietly.
“Nobody is actually going to pay these $2,000 fines, it would be a massive waste of money,” said protester Senji Boubnov.
Coun. Sam Austin is one councillor who is reconsidering the bylaw.
"I don't think it's practical,” he said during Tuesday’s meeting. “I think it's overly bureaucratic and I don't think it makes much sense. So, I really think we need to take a second look at this.”
Austin initially voted for changes to the bylaw to strengthen anti-smoking rules, but has since heard a lot of public feedback.
“Across the country, every province, all sorts of municipalities, they are all trying to tackle what should the community standard for cannabis be in different ways because there is no easy answer on this,” said the Dartmouth councillor. “The only thing I'm really sure of is the bylaw we adopted, I don't think makes sense.”
Tuesday, Austin asked his fellow councillors to reconsider including tobacco in the nuisance bylaw, and request a staff report looking into the matter further.
Mayor Mike Savage applauded Austin’s decision to reconsider.
“One of the sins that politicians are often accused of is changing their minds,” Savage said. “I think politicians should be applauded for changing their minds and I think the way Coun. Austin has done this is very sensible, so I certainly support having a second look at this and seeing if there is another way.”
As council was in session Tuesday afternoon, the city sent out a release stating that the bylaw prohibiting smoking in public places will officially be enacted on Oct. 1.
On Tuesday night, council passed a motion to look at pulling tobacco from the bylaw and asked for a staff report on the matter. The motion, brought forward by Austin, passed with a vote of 11 to 5.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Allan April.
