| Visiting Limericks Traditional Public House (7304 McLeod Trail S.E.; 252-9190) recently, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that smoking is now prohibited on the main floor.
I was living in Yellowknife when the Workers’ Compensation Board for the Northwest Territories and Nunavut banned smoking in all enclosed work sites, including bars. This resulted in an enormous outpouring of protest from smokers and business owners. Some pub owners deliberately defied the bylaw and paid the resulting fines. A flurry of dire predictions about impending business failures, as well as complaints about the abuse of smokers' rights, filled the local newspaper's letters columns.
Many Canadian provinces have banned or restricted smoking in public places in the last few years, including British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. It still seems to be a tough sell in Alberta, possibly due to Premier Ralph Klein's lack of support for the idea, although Calgary has committed to becoming a smoke-free city in 2008 and anti-smoking activists are currently petitioning to have that deadline moved up (see www.calgarysmokepetition.com).
I asked Bonnie Storoschuk, the general manager at Limericks, when and why they decided to ban smoking in the pub.
"We started this policy about the middle of January," Storoschuk says. "It was partly an attempt to anticipate something that seemed to be inevitable anyway. We try to be a leader in this business, and a lot of people today see a smoke-free environment as a cutting edge idea. The main floor of Limericks has been smoke-free during the lunch period almost since we opened, and a few customers were asking whether we might extend this to evenings. Occasionally, people would come in in the evening, and then walk out again because it was too smoky."
Storoschuk admits there has been some concern about possible loss of business as a result of adopting this policy.
"No one likes change. It always takes awhile to get adjusted to it," she says. "That's why this was implemented on a trial basis only. We had extensive discussions of all aspects of it: what to do if people came in with lit cigarettes, whether it was a problem that the games area on the main floor would be in the non-smoking area, etc. As it turned out, people really don't seem to mind going upstairs to smoke a cigarette, then coming back down when they're finished. In that respect, we're fortunate in having two floors. You really can't smell smoke at all downstairs."
The response of customers has been overwhelmingly positive. "We haven't had one single complaint," says Storoschuk.
I asked how the staff felt about the new policy.
"They all love working on this floor now, even the 50 per cent or so who smoke," says Storoschuk. "Just because a person smokes doesn't mean they like spending all day immersed in second-hand smoke."
Smoking aside, Limericks is an inviting place to visit, with subdued music, tasteful decor and a great selection of local and imported beers, including many microbrewed brands. The menu is impressive, with steaks, pizza, sandwiches, "yuppie" cuisine and 13 traditional British pub entrées, including haggis.
Limericks isn’t the only pub in Calgary that’s embraced the tobacco-less drinking experience. The Boomtown Pub, located in the Best Western Hospitality Inn (135 Southland Drive S.E.), has had a total non-smoking policy since it opened on April 1, and both the Ironwood Stage and Grill and the Eau Claire Brewsters have also gone smoke-free.
I asked Storoschuk whether Limericks intends to continue its non-smoking policy.
"I can't say for certain," she says. "The owners will make the decision, but the main floor has been busier since we brought this in, so I can't see why we'd go back." |
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