A city councillor will seek some legal advice before deciding whether to fight the charges his business is facing of breaking a city bylaw.

The '98 Hotel Lounge, owned by Coun. Mel Stehelin, is among three bars in town charged with breaking the city's bylaw banning smoking from all public places. The ban took effect in bars on Jan. 1.

Mayor Ernie Bourassa said Wednesday the city is not in a position to give special treatment to anyone, including city council members, on following city bylaws.

The '98, Capital Hotel and Sam McGees Bar and Grill, located at the 202 Motor Inn, are all facing at least two counts of breaking the bylaw by failing to request that people desist from smoking and failing to take measures to stop persons from smoking.

Sam McGees is facing a third count of failing to post and maintain signs prescribed by the bylaw.

The charges were laid by the bylaw department Wednesday.

Stehelin he was 'a little surprised' the city is bringing forward charges that date back close to a month ago.

While the charges against the '98 and Capital stem from approximately Feb. 14, Sam McGees case goes back less than a week, to March 4, bylaw manager John Taylor said in an interview Wednesday afternoon.

'We had been gathering the information,' Taylor explained when asked why the charges from February weren't laid sooner.

It took some time to gather evidence to support the charges, he said. Officers had been sent to check out some of the bars around the city.

Stehelin said the documents for him to appear in court don't provide him with a lot of detail about the complaint that was made against his bar.

'It's all very vague,' he said.

He questioned why the city doesn't simply issue the up-to-$500-fine to the businesses in contravention.

Those that want to fight the charge could then take it to court rather than the businesses being required to show up in court on March 22.

In an interview this morning, Taylor explained the court date was set in an effort to speed up the process. Had a fine been charged, he said, there would have been four weeks for the proprietors to pay the bill or take it to court.

If a business opts to plead guilty to the charge, they can do so on March 22 and be issued a fine of up to $500. If the bars want to go ahead and fight the charges, they can make the first court appearance in 12 days and a trial will be set, Taylor said.

The bylaw states: 'Any proprietor that fails or neglects to perform the duties or requirements imposed upon it under the provisions of the bylaw commits an offense and is liable for a summary conviction to a fine of up to $500.'

Stehelin, like Capital manager Jonas Smith, argued requiring the proprietor of a bar to remove customers refusing to butt out is a 'ridiculous thing to ask.'

Smith noted a bartender at the Capital recently called the bylaw department because people were smoking in the bar. The bartender was told it's not the department's job to enforce the bylaw. The bartender was told to visit the bylaw office and make a statement if there was a problem.

Taylor pointed out under the bylaw it is a proprietor's responsibility to cut off a customer from service if he or she won't stop smoking, and tell them to leave. If the customer refuses or becomes unruly, bar staff can call the RCMP to remove the customer, he said.

'We never were going to become the bouncers,' Taylor argued.

The requirement is similar to the territorial Liquor Act requirement for patrons to be cut off if they become too inebriated, he said. Under the Liquor Act, he said, if a patron refuses to leave when asked, the RCMP can be called to remove that customer.

Stehelin said if a proprietor forces a customer to leave over smoking, it could be viewed as assault.

'We don't have authority to throw people out of the bar,' Smith said.

While Stehelin plans to get some legal advice before deciding how to proceed with the charges, Smith, who has been arguing for the city to permit smoking rooms to be established, is prepared to fight the bylaw.

'It's really most unfortunate,' he said Wednesday afternoon of the bylaw going to court.

The case will end up costing taxpayers money, Smith said, adding 'when' the bars win, they'll be going after the city for damages as well.

Also the Yukon zone director with the B.C./Yukon Hotel Association, Smith said the organization has already spent $13,000 on legal consultation about the bylaw.

Taylor and Bourassa said they don't yet know how much it will end up costing the city.

As Bourassa said though, 'We're obligated to do that.'

Factors such as whether any of the bars plead guilty will have an impact on the price tag of the case, Taylor said.

At the Capital, servers have been telling patrons who are smoking they won't be served until the cigarette is out, Smith said.

During the annual Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous festival last month, the Capital was among the bars that placed ashtrays back on their tables. The ashtrays have since been removed, Smith said.

At the time, Coun. Doug Graham said he was thinking abut bringing the bylaw back to council for reconsideration, depending on what other councillors thought and whether it began being enforced.

This morning, Graham said he likely won't go ahead with those plans since there's been some enforcement and there wasn't much interest from other council members in considering it again.

'I don't think there's any necessity,' he said.

Bars began falling under the smoking ban in January, with the bylaw department opting to issue warnings to those contravening the regulation at first.

With the first charges set for court, Taylor said the bylaw department is doing what it said it would do all along issue warnings before it began laying charges.

'I think people were shocked,' he said.

He said many of the bars in town are following the bylaw, noting that bylaw staff were sent into nine bars to find only three in violation of the smoking bylaw.