On the same day other hotels in Weyburn were calling for stronger enforcement of the non-smoking law, public health inspectors with the Sun Country Health Region paid another visit to the Royal Hotel on Thursday to issue tickets.

Inspectors issued two more tickets to the owners and one to a patron of the Weyburn hotel. The hotel now holds eight tickets for violating the province's new Amendment to the Tobacco Control Act, which has banned smoking in any enclosed public place since Jan. 1, 2005.

Health inspector Grant Paulson said Monday the tickets cost $550 each if paid voluntarily. If the ticket-holder waits to pay the ticket after a court date, a judge can increase the fine to a maximum of $5,000 on each ticket.

Tickets issued to individual patrons will cost $190 each if paid voluntarily and can be increased to a maximum of $500 each if the patron settles the issue in court, said Paulson.

Paulson said the first time his department ticketed the hotel earlier in January, four health inspectors and two police officers were involved. On Thursday, four inspectors and one police officer was involved.

Bars can be a little unruly, so the police escort was a cautionary step, said Paulson.

"It was not intended as a show of force or anything like that," said Paulson. "I've asked police officers to come along on various things over the past 20 years. Our concern was a safe atmosphere."

The police also accompany inspectors sometimes to ensure that everyone's rights are respected, he said. "They're more experienced with the legal process than inspectors."

Paulson said four inspectors were used because the Royal is a large place and one man alone is not likely to spot every violation of the law, such a provision of the law forbidding businesses to provide smoking aids like ashtrays.

"We want to do everything the right way," he said. His department is holding discussions with the provincial department of justice on the next step.

Royal Hotel manager Denny Joyal said Friday he will challenge the law. "There are constitutional issues. The law is not being applied equally in the entire province," he said.

The challenge is worth the risk because a lot of small-town bars will close their doors if the smoking ban continues as is, Joyal predicts.

The first court date for the smoking violations is Feb. 21 in Weyburn provincial court.

Joyal pointed out that the province has swayed back and forth about enforcing the law over the entire province.

First the health minister said Indian reserves would be forced to comply. Then he instituted a 60-day grace period for everyone, and then he withdrew it, said Joyal.

"They have no idea what they're doing," he said, adding that the health minister refuses to meet with the Saskatchewan Hotels Association on the issue.

Paulson said the White Bear reserve operates under federal jurisdiction and he does not conduct inspections on that property for any purpose.

Joyal said his argument with the law is about accommodating his customers. He wants to build a ventilated smoking room for his customers so they don't need to stand outside in -50C to have a cigarette.

No service would be provided in the room, so staff would not be exposed to second-hand smoke.

"That's all I'm after," he said. "I'm not against the ban on smoking."

Need for stronger enforcement

On the same day as the raid on the Royal Hotel, a group of Weyburn hotel-owners stepped forward to call on the provincial government to enforce their legislation more stringently.

The group included several of the hotels and bars in Weyburn, though they said a number of unspecified rural businesses agree with their position. Del Johnston acted as spokesperson for the group at a press conference on Thursday morning.

Johnston said there is an uneven playing field being created in the province because the provincial government's enforcement of this law "is not working."

"It's common knowledge that it's not working. Everyone knows it's not working," he said.

"We've got a situation in this province where we've got licensees that are compliant, and down the road a mile or two there's another licensee that has ashtrays under the table."

As long as there are licensees in the province that are compliant with the law, and licensees that are not, there is an uneven playing field, he said.

"When you have an uneven playing field, you have certain people that capitalize on profits, and others that have to pay the price."

Johnston said whether or not they agree with the legislation is irrelevant: they just want to run their businesses in a profitable manner. No one at the conference offered suggestions about how the government should step up its enforcement, though the group said they have contacted legal counsel over this issue and hopes to speak further with the government.

Contacted on Monday afternoon, Health Minister John Nilson said only that public health inspectors have been going out and doing their job as they should, advising businesses about how the law affects them and enforcing it when necessary.

"They have been doing it in a progressive enforcement manner," he said.

Otherwise, Nilson said there is substantial compliance with this law across the province.

"I don't have a special number, but the sense from the reports I get from the senior officials of Saskatchewan Health is compliance is very good across the province."

"There are very few places that are causing any problems, and they will be dealt with appropriately," he said.

Nilson noted he wanted to remind people that tobacco smoke kills, and that's why this legislation has been enacted: to protect the public health.

"It's very much a public health initiative. It's not about hurting someone's business; it's about dealing with a major problem."