The lawyer representing several hookah bars about to be put out of business by new health restrictions says he's going to take his fight to the provincial government.
Several hookah bars and cigar lounges were granted the ability to continue operating by Vancouver city council Thursday, but it will be the end of the line for them when provincial regulations on smoking indoors come into force in March, Wayne Ryan told CTV News.
"As pointed out by a couple of council members we have the full support of council but their hands are tied by the provincial government," Ryan told CTV News. "The best they can do is give moral support.
"I'm satisfied that the powers-that-be in Victoria will pass an exemption for us," he said.
In September, the city of Vancouver voted to bar smoking indoors for health reasons.
But hookah lounges and cigar bars received a reprieve when councilors decided to exempt them from the stringent new rules.
That will all change on March 31, when the province's new no-smoking regulations ban indoor smoking and override whatever rules the city might have in place.
