Monday night in the City Council chambers, the proposed changes to the smoking bylaw were under the glow of the spotlight once again. 

The People for a Smoke Free Moose Jaw, along with the Saskatchewan Lung Association, were back after 14 years to promote the changes and express their feelings for public spaces to be surrounded by only clean air.

"Parks, playgrounds and sports fields are environments designed to promote healthy and active living; using tobacco, e-cigarettes and marijuana is counter intuitive," said Jennifer May from the Saskatchewan Lung Association. "Smoke free outdoor spaces is good for business, virtually every objective peer reviewed study using official sales data has found that smoke free bylaws has had no adverse impact on restaurant[s], bar[s], hotel[s] and tourism."

May added that she believes if we cut down on the amount of times children in the community are exposed to smoking, it may convince them to stay away from the habit.

"A lot of kids smoke in our province, even more are now using e-cigarettes more than half of whom who have never smoked. If children and youth aren't exposed to people smoking and vaping, they may be less likely to think of it as normal. We need to protect our kids."

Agreeing with May's statements about the smoking bylaw was Dr. Mark Brown, who chairs for the People for a Smoke Free Moose Jaw.

"Since the 2003 ban on smoking in public places, the smoking rates overall in Saskatchewan among adults has gone down from 24% to 18%," explained Brown. 

City Administration, including City Solicitor Myron Gulka-Tiechko, will now go to work on the revisions.

It is expected that more information and the awaited amendments will be released in the next few weeks.