Ontario plans smoking ban by 2006 | National Post

[Ediacara]

Ontario plans smoking ban by 2006

Friday, January 30, 2004

TORONTO -- Smoking in all public places and at work will be banned in Ontario within three years under legislation to be introduced this year.

''Our commitment in the campaign and our commitment today is to have in place a law within three years, and we will,'' Health Minister George Smitherman said Friday after a speech to the Association of Local Public Health Agencies.

Although he doesn't yet have an exact date to introduce the legislation, Smitherman said the smoking ban ''is an important priority and will be getting lots of attention in the calendar year '04.''

''We've got to get that legislation tabled as quickly as we can,'' he said.

More at the National Post

[pink_poodle]

1. I thought it already was banned. Ho hum. Can they not..............

find some more dire and immediate concerns to spend their time and money on?????????????? I don't smoke, but I also don't care enough about this compared to homelessness, Hepatitis C and other more pressing problems that are in society at the moment. sigh.

[iverglas]

2. fine by me

And I'm a smoker. (Fortunately for me, I work for me.)

Workers' rights still mean something in most of Canada.

No workers can be required to work in extremes of heat or cold that endanger their health, or work with dangerous equipment without safety equipment, or handle toxic substances without protective equipment, as a condition of their employment.

There is no reason why any worker should be required to breathe in second-hand smoke as a condition of his/her employment either.

Workers in the hospitality industry in particular -- servers in bars and restaurants where smoking is allowed -- are exposed to very high levels of second-hand smoke for long periods of time, and some do develop the diseases associated with smoking as a result.

CEOs aren't the ones affected by the problem; it's lower-income, not highly skilled workers (i.e. workers who often have little choice but to work in the hospitality industry). I'm not willing to put my personal wishes above their health, safety and rights.

.

[ixion]

3. second hand smoke damage is a myth

and it really bothers me that corporations are allowed to pollute, which is by far more damanging than smokers smoking, and yet the crusade against people who smoke continues.

What about a ban on bad perfume? That can be very nauseating. :evilgrin:

[Ediacara]

4. That's total BS!

The health damage from second-hand smoking is very well documented, and if you, say, work in a bar, it's a hell of a lot worse than industrial pollution.

Not that I'm trying to defend industrial polluters...

[Flightful]

7. Not according to the WHO

They did a massive study on secondhand smoke a few years ago, then buried it when the findings demonstrated that those exposed were at a slightly reduced risk of lung disease.

[Ediacara]

9. have a link?

or is that burried too?

[vanityfair]

5. ixion...

Hear, hear! finally - someone with some common sense. Exhaust from vehicles, and especially buses, just about chokes me to death, yet we don't ban cars from the road.

I'm sick of this wimpy secondhand smoke bullshit. Quit driving and corporate pollution, then we can talk about smoking.



"Lord what fools these mortals be." -- Shakespeare

[ixion]

10. thanks!

Glad someone agrees with me on that one. :hi:

[Flightful]

6. Be careful what you wish for

Nova Scotians have been in fits of mass hysteria over scented products. Last time I was there, all government offices had signs proclaiming the premises to be "scent-free workplaces", and a few years ago a teenager was jailed for wearing aftershave in school.

[ixion]

11. yeah, and I was being sarcastic

but it really drives the point home. People need to stop whining about actually having to be around other people. There are plenty of things people do (much of which is behaving like morons) that really bugs me, but you know, there are over 6 billion of us here on the planet, and we ARE animals... so there is bound to be odors and smoke and all sorts of things.

In general, people who push for this kind of legislation really don't have any REAL problems to concern themselves with. :grr:

[Flightful]

8. Dalton's toast

Just a few months in office and he's managed to offend damn near everyone.

[PartyPooper]

12. Well, that's one more city I can cross off my list to visit!

I refuse to freeze my ass off outside...just to have a cigarette in the middle of winter!

:smoke: