Smoking bylaw a boon for conventions

Ottawa Citizen

Ottawa's no-smoking bylaw is giving the city a competitive advantage in drawing multi-million-dollar conventions, as national organizations look solely to smoke-free cities. Each convention can pour up to $1 million into Ottawa's economy through spending on hotels, retail shopping and restaurants. And Ottawa has one up on its two biggest rivals, Montreal and Toronto, where smoking is still allowed in some indoor public places.

Ottawa's no-smoking bylaw, which took effect Aug. 1, 2001, prohibits smoking in all workplaces and public spaces. The Canadian Paediatric Society decided last month to limit venues for future meetings to cities that have completely butted out in public places. The decision followed a similar move by the Canadian Public Health Association earlier this year.