It appears city council won't be making any changes to the smoking bylaw after all.

After revisiting the bylaw at Monday evening's meeting, most council members said they didn't want to turn back on the bylaw.

Coun. Mel Stehelin, who operates the '98 Hotel, was the lone voice in favour of opening up the bylaw.

'You're putting people out of business,' he warned his colleagues.

Smoking was banned in all public places as of Jan. 1 with the exception of bars, which must be smoke-free starting Jan. 1, 2005. Since the new year, a number of restaurant owners have complained of losing their business to bars where patrons can continue to smoke and eat.

In response to the complaints, council agreed to revisit the bylaw.

'I don't want to go back,' Coun. Dave Stockdale argued last night. 'I don't want to give a pro-choice. We're not stopping people from smoking.'

He pointed out residents are still able to smoke in their homes and outside in their back yards.

Smoking presents a danger to workers, Stockdale said, adding his surprise that the territorial government hasn't enacted some sort of similar legislation throughout the territory. Several provincial governments have legislated a total smoking ban, he said.

'There is no solution that will satisfy everyone,' Stockdale said.

He suggested that if restaurants are relying on customers who smoke for business, they should do something else to attract other eaters.

He noted if there are negative impacts from the ban, he was sorry about that.

Stockdale has phoned several communities where officials have told him even the smokers come back to their establishments.

He pointed out it's difficult to sit in council chambers and be 'berated' every week about the bylaw.

'We don't get up here and berate you,' Karen Motley, manager of the The Coffee Bar in Marwell, said following a number of speakers responding to Stockdale's comments. 'This is a democratic society and you were voted in, unfortunately, to listen to us ....'

Motley represents restaurateurs on the new Whitehorse Hospitality Coalition, made up of bar and restaurant owners and operators. The coalition was formed in response to the smoking bylaw.

Motley's was one of seven presentations made to council. Stacy Mitchell, owner of the Sam n' Andy's restaurant downtown, spoke following Stockdale's comments.

She argued all restaurants have niche markets.

'There are smoking and non-smoking restaurants in this city,' she said. 'We have niches; we do survive because of that. That's being taken away.'

As business owners, being told they have to deal with it is not fair, she argued.

When she bought Sam n' Andy's, she did her homework, studied, found out what the markets and trends were and received bank loans based on that.

'Now I can't repay those bank loans,' she said. 'I'm now fighting the banks and I have to close the doors.'

While she noted it's not the bylaw that's destroying her business, she isn't being given choices in the matter.

'I'm now a non-smoking restaurant that is competing with other non-smoking restaurants,' she said. 'I'm taking business away from those people as well and their doors might close.'

Mitchell also owns Latitude Destinations, a tourism operation.

Earlier in the meeting, Coun. Yvonne Harris argued that eco-tourism is one of the fastest-growing tourism markets in the territory and a smoking ban could benefit the sector.

'These people get off planes and they have to stay in hotels,' she said. 'They have to be fed. And if we do not have that, we won't get the eco-tourism.'

If there's nowhere to stay or eat for the one or two nights they have to stay in Whitehorse before doing the main part of their trip, they're not going to come to the territory, Harris said.

'And we just basically put the whole, entire Yukon Territory out of business,' she said.

Thad Thomas also disagreed with a statement by Stockdale that the B.C./Yukon Hotel Association had agreed to the one-year grace period for bars. He pointed out the association has asked for a five-year implementation period for a smoking ban.

Stephen Waterreus reminded council the smoking bylaw is about a health issue.

'There's not a single business in this town that would ever get a business licence if they were violating any sort of health and safety regulations,' he said.

This is simply another regulation to help protect the safety of the people, Waterreus argued.

It's easy for business owners to say they're a private business and the city has no right to tell them what to do, but private businesses serve the public, he said, adding it's the city's responsibility to protect the public.

Businesses may be suffering for a variety of reasons, he said.

He said most coffee shops downtown are non-smoking and getting good business. Motley noted when The Coffee Bar opened in Marwell, she and the owner gave it a month to gauge whether demand would dictate that it be a smoking or non-smoking establishment.

'Within the first week, it was obvious it was going to be a smoking restaurant,' she said.

The Coffee Bar is in a different demographic than the coffee shops downtown, she said.

Coun. Bev Buckway noted that while she had thought about a proposal which would have banned smoking in bars until 9 p.m. for this year until the total ban took effect in January, she said it would be impossible to enforce.

'I'm not in favour of going backwards, I'm in favour of going forwards,' she said. 'It is a very contentious issue.'

Nowhere in this bylaw, she said, has anyone suggested smokers might quit their habit and still patronize their favourite restaurants.

While Harris, who left the meeting early, said she may support a motion to bring the ban on bars into July, she would also be comfortable enough to support it as it stands.

Harris said she's not convinced of the economic hardship businesses are facing due to the bylaw.

'I think this is a good thing for the city,' she said. Over the long term, it will benefit the city, Harris argued.

Coun. Dave Austin said he's agonized over the bylaw.

'I've watched the business of some restaurants decline and I've had to stand in line at other restaurants to get a seat,' he said.

Austin said he didn't favour weakening the bylaw, nor did he favour going back on a commitment made to the hotel association.

Stehelin, meanwhile, pointed to Calgary's smoking bylaw, which allowed for a five-year implementation period.

This enabled businesses time to deal with leases and other legal issues.

Mayor Ernie Bourassa recalled the debate on the issue when it first came up last summer.

'We listened, very, very carefully,' he said. 'Many of us understood there would be some serious consequences for what we hoped would be a very short period of time.'

He pointed to the smoking bylaw in Yellowknife, where the same economic arguments have been made.

'So whether the argument is good or the economy is bad, we're hearing the same (arguments) against this bylaw,' he said.

Bourassa said he certainly recognizes there will be impacts and he expects to take criticism on the bylaw.

If people want to consider him a dictator, as local resident Walter Ristik called him in a presentation earlier in the evening, that's an opinion people can have, the mayor said.

'But that's not who I am,' he said. 'That's neither here nor there.'

He said he ran in the October 2003 election supporting the smoking ban and most Whitehorse residents he's spoken to support that position.

'I'm willing to stick with it,' he said. 'I do think, I'm not in favour of advancing the ban on the bars at this point. I wish there was a way we could come up and level the playing field, but (as others mentioned earlier), there is no simple solution.'

Coun. Doug Graham, who brought forward the original motion last year to ban smoking in places which admit minors, noted he believes the city can work within the bylaw to help restaurant owners deal with the changes.

He suggested a possible Whitehorse dining guide which would tell people where restaurants are. He noted many people he's talked to aren't aware some restaurants even exist.

Asked by Motley if restaurants would have to pay to be in the guide, he replied the idea was still preliminary, but he doesn't see it as something they would have to pay for.

Waterreus was the only delegate to speak in favour of the smoking ban last night. Others have made presentations at earlier meetings favouring the ban.

Kim Davey argued the city couldn't implement the bylaw at a bar because bars aren't a public place.

If people don't like smoke in bars, they can go elsewhere, she said.

Jonas Smith, who manages the Capital Hotel and represents bars in the new coalition, told council Jan. 1, 2005 is not enough time for the establishments to prepare for a ban.

'I don't think the health issue has a leg to stand on,' he said.

Elaine Kennedy also argued the bylaw is infringing on the rights of Whitehorse residents.

After the meeting, Mark Cowcill of Mama Martini's questioned where the balance was in council's decision.

'No one's ever disagreed that smoking is on its way out, but where is the balance to accommodate 35 per cent of Whitehorse's population?' he asked. There are some industries in town which rely on that minority, 'unfortunately,' he added.

Right now, the smoking bylaw is going to be detrimental to Whitehorse's economy, he said outside council chambers.

Motley, who previously presented council with a 2,000-name petition for council to implement a pro-choice option in the bylaw, said it would be nice to see council give both industry sectors a full year to prepare now that the impacts have been seen in 2 1/2 months.

'I think the full scale of the ripple effect is yet to be seen,' Smith said.

'It's only 2 1/2 months into the bylaw. I think there is worst to come and I think, if the bylaw stands as is today, this year will show a lot of hardship for the restaurateurs and come first quarter of next year, that same hardship will be mirrored in the hotel, the cocktail lounge industry.'

Next week, council will vote on a recommendation that the smoking bylaw remain as is.