“Owners are losing their businesses and people are losing jobs,” said Montreal bar owner Peter Sergakis, head of the Union des tenanciers de bars du Quebec.

In response to a poll conducted this summer, dozens of bar owners told his association they were going broke, Sergakis said.

The 1,500 bar owners who responded to the survey reported a 30-per-cent drop in revenues from alcohol sales, video-poker terminals, pool tables and food since the no-smoking rules went into effect May 31, Sergakis said.

At least 478 full- and part-time jobs have been cut, he added.

Bars outside major cities are hardest hit because their clientele is older and more likely to smoke, Sergakis said.

“Just wait for winter - the effect will be double,” he said. “People won’t want to go outside to smoke in minus 30C.”

Source: Montreal Gazette. Link

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