Just a side-thought: Although the anti-smoking laws in Ottawa bars are a
little draconian, and although I have mixed feelings about the right for the
municipality to control smoking in bars…

Is is -SO- nice to come out of a bar at 1:00 in the morning and your
hair, and your clothes, and your skin don’t smell like someone’s been rubbing
tobacco all over them.

Even if the non-smoking law only holds for a little while longer (they’ve
brought it to court a number of times and I imagine it’ll eventually be
toppled) it’s quite literally like a breath of fresh air to be able to go out
without picking up that awful smell.

Thank goodness the folks in City Hall had the courage to at least give the
non-smoking bill a try. What a wonderful thing.

(for the record, I am intensely and angrily opposed to the tobacco
industry and it’s insidious poison… but I’m pro “having the right to
determine what the atmosphere will be like in one’s own environment”. It’s a
very tricky situation here in Ottawa)