Winnipeg to draft bylaw banning hookah use in businesses, on patios

The City of Winnipeg is considering an outright ban on hookah lounges, upping the ante from an earlier push to regulate shisha smoking in restaurants, bars and private clubs.

The City of Winnipeg is considering an outright ban on hookah lounges, upping the ante from an earlier push to regulate shisha smoking in restaurants, bars and private clubs.

City council's community services committee voted unanimously on Monday to ask city staff to draft a bylaw banning the use of the water pipes inside businesses and on their patios.

Committee chair Evan Duncan (Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood) authored the motion, which now heads to executive policy committee, and ultimately city council as a whole, in December. "We need to prioritize health over the consumption of any type of smoking products. So that's what we're doing here today," Duncan said in a scrum at city hall.