Ten years ago Monday, the difficult implementation of the non-smoking bylaw in Ottawa's restaurants and bars began.
The start of the ban is being remembered as hard on smokers, businesses and even the officials who worked on it.
"I had a body guard, I had death threats, I had a police escort. . . It was rough for my family and for me," said Dr. Robert Cushman. "I guess I didn't know how wild that horse was going to be, but I am glad we did it."
While smoking in a restaurant would seem strange in 2011, not everyone followed when it was first put in place on Aug. 1, 2001.
"We virtually had officers working 24 hours a day to check on bars and restaurants," said Linda Anderson, Ottawa Bylaw Chief.
In the first year, bylaw officers gave out 3,000 fines in the face of smoking protests and restaurants defying the ban, including one bar racking up $35,000 in fines.
"We had a test case go through with those fines; the courts upheld them so they owed $35,000," Anderson said. "When that hit the media, several of the other non-compliant places quickly came into compliance."
The final push for the ban in Ottawa came from the story of Heather Crowe, who died of second-hand smoke after years of working in smoke-filled restaurants.
Ottawa turned out to be a precedent for many other North American cities who put in similar bans afterward, but even today the city isn't finished.
The council for health and safety currently wants smoking banned on patios and in playgrounds and beaches.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Kate Eggins
