In the context of the original post, I would certainly choose a zoom. And if I did choose a fixed focal length compact, considering the 40mm lens on the QL17, I would opt for one with a 28mm lens, those with 35 or 38mm lenses would seem redundant.
Of the cameras that I currently own, I would choose either the 28~70mm Konica Lexio if compactness was very important, or the 28~90mm Rollei Prego 90 if versatility was more of an issue. If image quality was most important, and compactness was irrelevant, then it would be either the (original) Pentax IQ Zoom, the huge Canon Sure Shot Zoom XL, or the Samsung ECX-2, all of which are probably larger than the Canonet, but all have lenses which rival those found on SLR cameras.