TORONTO - After vowing to have no exemptions to Ontario's smoking ban, the government has quietly given provincially owned casinos the OK to build smoking rooms.
The Smoke Free Ontario Act, which became law last June, doesn't allow bars and restaurants to provide covered areas to protect smoking patrons from the weather.
But provincially owned casinos in Niagara Falls and Windsor have been building shelters for gamblers who like to smoke, and the Liberal government says that's OK.
A similar covered smoking area has also been approved for gamblers who play the slot machines at Windsor Raceway.
The tobacco-industry funded lobby group Mychoice.ca says there should be no exemptions for the law banning smoking in all indoor public places in Ontario.
It says the government exempted the casinos from parts of the smoking ban because of a big drop in revenues after the ban came into effect.
