Victim tag won't wash
IAN GILLESPIE, Free Press News Columnist 2005-01-19
I won't be sending any sympathy cards to local tobacco farmers. I won't be begging politicians to shovel piles of cash toward these suffering souls.
And I won't be driving out to offer support during Friday's Highway 401 blockade.
Maybe I'm heartless. Maybe my sympathy has evaporated under the deluge of misleading messages from the cancer-stick industry.
Or maybe I'm just tired of hearing that popular song -- "Help me, I'm a victim" -- ring out again and again.
That refrain was recently delivered by Fred Neukamm, chairperson of the Ontario Flue-cured Tobacco Growers Marketing Board.
Neukamm spoke Monday at a local tongue-wag hosted by the Commons standing committee on finance and economic affairs.
Neukamm said tobacco farmers are "now a community in crisis" and warned that unless the province ponies up $50 million (on top of $67 million from the feds) to buy out beleaguered tobacco farmers, some small Southwestern Ontario communities could fold because there's "nothing to replace that economic activity."
Neukamm's plea isn't new. For years, tobacco lobbyists have toiled to paint tobacco farmers as innocent victims of the government's dastardly anti-smoking campaign.
But are they really?
According to recent figures from Statistics Canada, three types of farms boast the highest operating margins -- dairy farms, livestock combination and tobacco farms.
"(Tobacco farmers) have been riding the gravy train for years," says Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society.
"They are among the wealthiest farmers in Canada," he says.
Cunningham also pooh-poohs Neukamm's doomsday claim that entire communities will fold in the face of fewer tobacco farms.
In his book Smoke and Mirrors: The Canadian Tobacco War, he rejects the economic argument.
Cunningham argues that "as less money is spent on tobacco, more money will be spent on other items, thereby increasing jobs in other sectors and offsetting any job loss in the tobacco sector."
He also cites a study by University of British Columbia professor Robert Allen, which reported that if all full-time jobs in tobacco growing and manufacturing disappeared overnight, the unemployment rate would rise less than 0.01 per cent.
Tobacco industry lobbyists frequently blame the government for their woes. Again, Cunningham begs to differ.
"Tobacco farmers in Canada are highly inefficient on a world scale," he says. "They're high-cost producers because of our cold weather and because of our higher cost of labour. Historically, the tobacco industry in Canada has kept the inefficient Canadian farmers in business by paying premium prices much higher than world prices.
"The biggest problem faced by the growers is not the decline in smoking in Canada," he says. "It's the combination of the high Canadian dollar, the extremely high cost of production of tobacco in Canada and the refusal of Imperial Tobacco to continue to pay above world prices for Canadian tobacco."
Cunningham doesn't oppose using government money to pay tobacco farmers to get out of the business. But he's suspicious of such schemes.
"(An exit buyout) is not all that they want and that's not all they've been given," he says. "You could design a program that appears to be helping farmers exit (the industry), but is really a disguised subsidy to continuing farmers. And that's inappropriate."
Cunningham says it's unjustifiable for the federal government to slash funding for its anti-smoking programs on the one hand and then subsidize tobacco farmers on the other.
"It's very interesting that for decades tobacco farmers have objected to government regulation," Cunningham says. "But at the same time, they're demanding government action to keep them in business."
The federal government started paying tobacco farmers to help get them out of the tobacco-growing business in the late 1980s. The writing has been on the wall for a long time. How long does it take to read the message? How long will the bail-outs last?
Still, I bet the government coughs up the cash. Because these days, everyone purports to be a victim -- even some who, despite years of warnings, have chosen their fate.
It seems the rest of us, though, have no choice but to pay and pay and pay.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/London/Ian_Gillespie/2005/01/19/902852.html
Reserve smoke ban not in cards
By FRANK LANDRY -- Winnipeg Sun Wed, January 19, 2005
There's one reason and only one reason why the NDP government refuses to extend its "province-wide" smoking ban to First Nations -- politics.
Premier Gary Doer doesn't want to anger Manitoba's aboriginal population, a group that tends to vote NDP, at least provincially.
Ruffling feathers wouldn't be good for business, and the premier knows it.
And that's why pleas this week from the Manitoba Tobacco Reduction Alliance (MANTRA) for the NDP to clamp down on smoking on First Nations will fall on deaf ears.
Murray Gibson, MANTRA's executive director, is asking the province to make smoke-free facilities a requirement of getting a gambling licence. Either that, or rework the Non-Smokers Health Protection Act to include First Nations.
"I think they need to work with First Nations to create that dialogue and encourage them to voluntarily do this," Gibson told The Sun following a news conference Monday, where his group issued its third annual Manitoba tobacco control report card. "Failing that, they need to relook at the legislation."
Manitoba isn't the first province to have a province-wide smoking ban. Bans are also in place in New Brunswick and Saskatchewan. Ontario and Quebec have also announced plans to move forward with butt bans.
Whether these bans were necessary is an argument for another day. Within 10 years most restaurants and bars would likely have gone smoke-free anyway. It's just a sign of the times.
But I digress. The bans are already in place.
What's different in Manitoba is that the province makes an exception for First Nations, which it argues it does not have jurisdiction over. MANTRA says other provinces don't do this.
Interestingly, the feds also maintain they don't have the authority to impose smoking bans on First Nations. This apparent grey area will eventually be worked out before the courts, as most jurisdictional battles are.
What the province does have the power to do immediately is force First Nations to make their gambling halls smoke-free as a requirement of getting and keeping gaming licences. That could include casinos or VLT lounges.
But the province doesn't seem interested in the idea.
"At this time we're not choosing to make any amendments to our legislation," Health Living Minister Theresa Oswald said. "And certainly the purview of gambling licences doesn't fall within my department so I don't feel like I can speak to that with absolute detail and authority."
In other words, the NDP isn't biting. In the meantime, First Nations continue to operate under a different set of rules.
The Long Plain First Nation near Portage la Prairie intends to allow puffing in its new VLT lounge and conference centre. Brokenhead First Nation also plans to allow smoking in their new casino near Grand Beach.
The rest of Manitoba can't do this. The law prohibits smoking in any enclosed public or workplace.
"They don't want to upset aboriginal people who are running casinos," Tory Leader Stuart Murray said, speculating on the NDP's reason for ignoring repeated calls from his party and now MANTRA to make aboriginal gambling halls smoke-free.
"The way we look at it, it doesn't matter who you are. All Manitobans -- whether they work in aboriginal casinos or restaurants or whatever -- they should be protected from second-hand smoke."
And that's what this all boils down to -- protecting workers from second-hand smoke. Groups like MANTRA are not political in nature nor do they represent rural restaurant owners, many of whom are still miffed First Nations can permit puffing but they can't.
MANTRA has no reason to push for a smoking ban on First Nations other than to protect the health of people who work in and frequent aboriginal businesses.
It's too bad they're being ignored.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/Winnipeg/Frank_Landry/2005/01/19/902847.html
Supreme court OKs 'cigarette curtain' law
CBC News Last Updated Jan 19 2005 01:23 PM CST
OTTAWA – A Saskatchewan law banning tobacco displays has been reinstated by the Supreme Court of Canada.
Three years ago, Saskatchewan passed a law that said cigarettes could not be on display to people under 18.
Stores and restaurants had to put their tobacco products in cabinets and behind curtains.
Saskatchewan's Court of Appeal struck down the law after tobacco companies appealed. With the law overturned, many business opened the curtains.
But in a hearing this morning, Canada's highest court approved Saskatchewan's ban on tobacco displays.
The judges heard from the tobacco company Rothmans Benson and Hedges, the group that fought to keep cigarette displays in full view of the public.
After quizzing the company and taking a 15-minute recess, the judges came back and said the display ban is back in force. They'll give their reasons at a later date.
"It's disappointing," said John McDonald, a spokesman for Rothmans Benson and Hedges.
Anti-tobacco groups were hailing the decision.
"Oh we are absolutely elated. What a great victory on Weedless Wednesday," said Donna Pasiechnik, tobacco control co-ordinator with the Cancer Society's Saskatchewan division.
Saskatchewan Health Minister John Nilson said the ruling means tobacco will go back out of sight in the province.
"We're pleased that the Supreme Court of Canada understood the comments and concerns that we had in this particular case," he said.
http://sask.cbc.ca/regionalnews/caches/cigarettes050119.html
Letters- Smoking laws are starting to save lives ON
Re: 'Target Industrial Pollution', letter, Dec. 28.
Jan. 19, 2005
Steve Hartwell's (SmokersRightsCanada.org) letter is breathtaking in its duplicity.
While he is right that industrial pollution is a problem, that hardly means that we should ignore all other problems.
Indeed, the last provincial election saw all three parties promise to phase out coal-fired generators.
Such a move will save hundreds of lives each year.
However, anyone who has ever set foot in a pub or bar in Ontario will tell you that the air quality in those spaces is far worse than anything you're likely to encounter outdoors.
And there are any number of analyses that will list dozens of poisons found in the smoke curling from the tip of a cigarette.
Yet, Hartwell's letter tells us that these poisons that permeate our hair, skin and clothing have no effect on us.
Who could have so little regard for the health of others that they would knowingly expose them to toxins?
Yet that is what Smokers Rights Canada is asking us to support - their right, amongst others, to make exposure to hazardous substances a condition of employment for entertainment and hospitality industry workers.
Fortunately, most smokers are more considerate and better informed.
They accept the fact that smoke kills. They avoid smoking near main entrances to buildings and while standing in lines.
And they avoid smoking indoors at home when they have children and other non-smoking family members.
Tobacco is one addiction that the government is trying to deal with in a rational fashion.
Unlike other addictive drugs, tobacco is legal.
The government is using the tax revenue from its sale to run treatment and harm reduction programs and public education campaigns to curb its use.
It has also slowly implemented laws and bylaws restricting its use to areas where the public will not be harmed. These measures are already saving thousands of lives annually.
Gary Dale
http://www.insidetoronto.ca/to/opinion/letter/story/2495912p-2892233c.html
Tax hikes won’t make us butt out, smokers say -ON
Latest increase adds 13 cents to a pack of 20 and 16 cents to a pack of 25
By Carol Mulligan/The Sudbury Star
Local News - Wednesday, January 19, 2005 @ 11:00
It will take more than a -31 C windchill and a $1.25-a-carton tax hike in the price of a carton of cigarettes to get Mona Quenneville to butt out.
Huddled against the building where she works downtown during a smoke break Tuesday, Quenneville shook her head when she learned the provincial government’s third tax increase on tobacco products was to go into effect at midnight.
Quenneville admitted the increase — which will add 13 cents to a pack of 20 cigarettes and 16 cents to a pack of 25 — doesn’t begin to provide enough incentive to quit.
If federal and provincial governments were serious about helping people kick the habit, they’d do something to reduce the price of smoking cessation aids such as nicotine patches and gums to make it easier for people to quit, said Quenneville.
Or, better still, they should just outlaw the sale of cigarettes so people can’t get their hands on them, she said.
Colleague Jeff Houle agreed that a slight increase in the cost of smokes won’t do much to convince him to quit. He accused the provincial government of trying to “have its cake and eat it, too” by increasing tobacco taxes and benefiting from them.
Dave Groulx, a public health nurse with the Sudbury and District Health Unit, said even a slight increase in the price of tobacco products may help youngsters quit smoking. Research shows they are the group most likely to quit when tobacco costs rise.
Vicki Kuula-Ross, a public health nurse with the health unit’s tobacco cessation team, said she would like to see Ontario raise its tobacco taxes even further, to the national average.
The current national average is about $30 per carton in provincial tobacco taxes, and this increase boosts Ontario to $23.45, said Diane Flanagan, a spokeswoman for Ontario Finance Minister Greg Sorbara.
Sorbara said in an interview that his government is committed to being at the national average of tobacco taxes in the course of the Liberals' mandate, and that it’s a step closer with this initiative.
The tax increase will mean $52 million more for the province’s coffers, but that money was included in last year’s budget, said Flanagan. Since the Liberals were elected in October 2003, they’ve raised provincial tobacco taxes by $6.25.
This won’t be the last tax increase Ontario smokers see either, with the government aiming to reach the national average by the end of 2007.
The province’s tobacco tax hike came just in time for Weedless Wednesday today.
http://www.thesudburystar.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=94397&catname=Local+News
Pain in the butts -ON
ANOTHER TAX HIKE ON CIGARETTES KICKS IN TODAY
By ALAN FINDLAY, QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU Wed, January 19, 2005
FREEZING your butt off at smoke-break just got a little more expensive. Yesterday the provincial government announced its third tobacco tax hike in 14 months, adding an extra $1.25 to the price of every carton. That's 13 cents more for a pack of 20 ciggies.
Since the Liberals formed the government, the tax on a carton has risen by $6.25.
The current $23.45 in provincial taxes per carton will continue to rise, possibly once again in this spring's provincial budget, until Ontario's tax hit is as much as the national average of more than $30.
HOPING TO DETER YOUTHS
Quoted in a government news release, Finance Minister Greg Sorbara said the price hikes will help deter young people from smoking.
"Smoking is the No. 1 preventable cause of premature death and illness in Ontario, and it costs an estimated $1.7 billion a year in health care spending to treat diseases directly caused by tobacco," Sorbara said.
Michael Perley, director of the Ontario Campaign for Action on Tobacco, called the increase modest but another step in the right direction.
"I don't know if it will have much of an impact on consumption, but what iLt will do is help generate additional revenue to help offset (health) costs," said Perley.
Nancy Daigneault, president of the smokers' rights group mychoice.ca, said smokers are tired of governments clawing huge taxes from them and then labelling them a drain on health care.
ELECTION PROMISE
She said Ontario smokers are paying $2.5 billion in product taxes a year -- far more than what Health Minister George Smitherman maintains smoking-related illness is costing the system.
During the 2003 election, the Liberals promised to increase tobacco taxes by $10 a carton in order to reach the national average.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/TorontoSun/News/2005/01/19/903240-sun.html
Colts join city's no-smoking campaign
Jan 19, 2005
Members of the Barrie Colts launched National Non-Smoking Week at Barrie City Hall Monday, by taking their best shot against power walls - the large enticing displays of cigarettes in corner stores and gas stations.
"Power walls are one of the last bastions for aggressive marketing of tobacco products to children and youth and that's no longer acceptable," said Leslie Gordon, manager of the tobacco program for the Simcoe County District Health Unit. "Power walls target kids, undermine the efforts of those who are trying to quit and create an aura of social acceptability, creating the impression that cigarettes are more popular than they actually are."
The "Out of sight, out of mind" campaign aims to educate people that, despite a ban on most tobacco products advertising since 2003, power walls continue to feature prominently in retail outlets, many close to schools. The height and placement of these displays have been carefully calculated to have maximum impact on the purchaser.
About 60 per cent of tobacco purchases are impulse buys and prominent displays, like power walls, encourage impulse buys, said Gordon. Given that approximately one-fifth of smokers in Canada are non-daily smokers and that locally in Simcoe County the majority of adult smokers say they are thinking about trying to quit smoking within six months, power walls are a significant marketing tool to keep people smoking, she said.
"Tobacco companies pay out $77 million every year to keep power walls front and centre because they work," said Gordon. "All it takes is one purchase to turn an ex-smoker back into a smoker, and power walls are an extremely effective temptation."
A ban on tobacco advertising and promotion will help reduce tobacco use and protect children from exposure to tobacco promotion, said Gordon.
http://www.simcoe.com/sc/barrie/story/2497925p-2894388c.html
Ontario Boosts Cigarette Tax to Add C$52 Mln in Annual Revenue -ON
Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Ontario boosted cigarette taxes 5.6 percent, adding C$52 million ($43 million) to provincial revenue annually, and said the higher prices will help cut tobacco consumption among young people.
The price of a carton of 200 cigarettes rose C$1.25, or 16 cents for a pack of 25, at midnight. The average price of a pack of cigarettes in the province is now about C$9.
The increase comes as Ontario Finance Minister Greg Sorbara tries to reduce the provincial budget deficit, estimated at C$2.1 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31. The minister has said he plans to raise cigarette taxes to the national average of about C$30 a carton.
The most recent increase, the third in 14 months, brings Ontario taxes on a carton of cigarettes to C$23.45. A carton costs about C$70, including federal taxes.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000082&sid=aN8uvx2GgGo0&refer=canada
Letters to the editor - Calgary Sun - Jan 19/05
Apparently Ralph Klein can't please anyone. I, too, would love to see people free of the dangers of smoking, both smokers and non-smokers. An all-out smoking ban like the one proposed is not enforceable. Where are all the "civil libertarian types?" Is this not a case of smokers' charter rights being violated? Ralph is right in saying a ban is wrong and won't work. It doesn't address the real problem, which is a poison with debilitating addictive effects permitted by the federal government. If we ban everything bad for us what next? Cheesecake? Butter knives?
Keith Spielman
(No one is talking about a total ban on smoking.)
Has Paul Jackson ever heard of second-hand smoke? ("Butt-brained idea," Jan. 18.) This is the difference between cigarettes and fast food or VLTs. No one has ever shoved a Big Mac down my throat or put my money in a VLT. Is it not hypocritical of Ralph Klein to posture himself as saviour of health care while ignoring the leading preventable cause of death in Alberta? Jackson talks of freedom being chipped away but never mentions the rights of the 80% of Albertans who don't smoke. Where is my freedom to breathe clean air? Iris Evans has better insight into democracy than Jackson.
Gord Miszaniec
(Non-smokers are free to choose where they go.)
RE: "CREDIBILITY question," Jan. 16. This article says that Liberal health critic Laurie Blakeman said she had hoped Ralph Klein would introduce a smoking ban after a number of smokers in the Tory caucus either retired or were defeated in the November provincial election. Is she saying that if there were no smokers in cabinet that we would all be forced to not smoke? That sounds like a dictatorship, not democracy.
Robert Hogg
(The government sets the rules.)
RALPH KLEIN is nuts if he doesn't entertain the idea of implementing a smoking ban in all public places in Alberta. What part of "smoking and second-hand smoke kills" does this dinosaur not understand?
Robert Stock
(Ralph's not in favour of a ban.)
http://www.canoe.ca/CalgarySun/editorial.html#letters
No place for tobacco
Pharmacies are health-care centres and pharmacists are members of your health-care team. The Manitoba Tobacco Reduction Allliance (MANTRA) believes it is wrong for in-store or stand-alone pharmacies to sell and advertise tobacco products for the following reasons:
1. Tobacco is about addiction, disease and death not health and life.
2. By selling this product pharmacies lend a false sense of credibility to it.
3. It is an inherent conflict of interest to sell both the cause of the disease and the remedy.
4. Tobacco money buys silence. The tobacco industry spent $77million in 2002 and $88 million in 2003 in Canada to buy the right to promote their products in retail outlets (including pharmacies).
5. It is contrary to the Code of Ethics of the Canadian Pharmaceutical Association.
If pharmacies won't or can't act, maybe the government should pass legislation just like they have in every province east of Manitoba.
Murray Gibson
Executive Director
MANTRA
(Then they'll have nothing to hide.)
http://www.winnipegsun.com/NewsStand/WinnipegSun/Letters/
They puff in comfort at post office and CBC Federal workers exempt from city's smoking ban -MB
By Rick Lawler Thursday, January 20th, 2005
WHILE most Winnipeggers who smoke have to shiver outside while enjoying their cigarette, some federal employees can smoke in heated comfort right where they buy their lunch.
Canada Post Corp. employees working at the Graham Avenue main post office have a designated smoking room beside their publicly accessed cafeteria.
Federal jurisdictions in Manitoba are exempt from municipal and provincial smoking restrictions but are required to restrict smoking in the workplace, according to the website of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, a federal agency.
"We follow Health Canada options for banning and or restricting smoking in the workplace," Canada Post spokesman Brian Garagan said. The post office smoking room has a ventilation system that vents directly outside. It has a swipe-card access and is not open to the public.
Designating a smoking room "was a local decision in consideration of the needs of our union members" who smoke, Garagan said.
"That is a concern, to continue to encourage smoking in the workplace," said Murray Gibson, executive director of the Manitoba Tobacco Reduction Alliance (MANTRA).
MANTRA is a non-profit group that works with other health organizations to help Manitobans quit smoking.
"We are asking federal organizations to respect the legislation (of the city and province)," Gibson said.
"Health Canada supports our efforts, but some organizations like Canada Post and the CBC choose not to."
Some casual diners in the post office cafeteria seemed unconcerned about the nearby smoking room. Married couple Kevin and Karen Dyck meet there twice a week for lunch. They are both non-smokers.
"I like the rule that there is no smoking in public. They (Canada Post employees) need a swipe card to get in (the smoking room), so it's not a public space," Kevin Dyck said.
"I don't smell the smoke; it's not an issue to me," said Karen Dyck.
Gibson doesn't agree that the ventilated room doesn't create a hazard to diners in the cafeteria.
"In spite of the best efforts of filtration or ventilators, it doesn't protect bystanders from the hazards of second-hand smoke," he said.
"It's time the feds acted" to ban smoking in the workplace completely, he said.
Cars bad for health, Ontario MDs warn -ON
Thursday, January 20th, 2005
TORONTO -- Dependence on cars is so harmful to people's health it is tearing at the social fabric of the province, the Ontario College of Family Physicians warned yesterday.
A daily commute raises one's blood pressure and pollutes the air, while keeping people from their families, friends and leisure pursuits, said Janet Kasperski, chief executive officer of the professional development group for doctors, at a Toronto press conference that was ostensibly about suburban sprawl and its deleterious effects on a healthy lifestyle.
But the real bugaboo was the car, and the dependence of suburbanites on it, even for such mundane tasks as going for a carton of milk.
A report released yesterday by the college cites four dangers of uncontrolled urban growth, and only the fourth -- a lack of suburban green space appropriate for daily exercise -- had nothing to do with cars.
The other three were:
* Air pollution, which increases with more drivers on the road and is linked to respiratory and cardiovascular disease, cancer and reproductive damage.
* Fatal traffic accidents, two-thirds of which occur on highways, as opposed to urban roads.
* A host of mental health dangers, brought about by too much time in a car, and not enough time at leisure.
As Dr. Riina Bray, chair of the college's environmental health committee, put it, a daily commute from the suburbs can lead to "isolation depression, commuter stress, road rage."
The study argued the government's "greenbelt" proposal -- under which urban development would be halted on a vast swatch of land around Toronto -- ought to be extended to all Ontario urban centres.
"Once sprawl occurs, you can never go back," Bray said.
Smoking ban enforcers raid Weyburn hotel -SK
CBC News Last Updated Jan 20 2005 03:03 PM CST
WEYBURN – In what is a first under Saskatchewan's new smoking law, a Weyburn hotel has received multiple tickets for smoking violations.
The Royal Hotel has been given six tickets, each for more than $500.
The tickets are for setting ashtrays on the tables, not having "no smoking" signs, and for allowing patrons to smoke.
Several customers have also been fined for lighting up in the hotel.
According to bar manager Denny Joyal, officials raided the hotel around 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Five public health officers and three city police officers were involved, he said.
One of the public health officers blew a whistle, and started to read a statement, he said.
"It was a bit of overkill. I'm not sure why it was necessary," Joyal said.
"Perhaps they were anticipating some sort of trouble. Obviously nobody was going to give them a hard time."
Joyal said the hotel will not be paying the tickets. Instead, it will go to court over the matter sometime in February, he said.
He said the company wants the option to have a ventilated smoking room. It also believes the hotel should be on a level playing field with First Nations casinos, he said.
Under the provincial ban that went into effect Jan. 1, smoking is prohibited in all bars, restaurants and other enclosed public places.
However, the White Bear First Nation has passed its own bylaw that allows smoking at its on-reserve casino near Carlyle.
http://www.smokersclubinc.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=943
http://sask.cbc.ca/regionalnews/caches/weyburn-smoking050120.html
Nilson responds to smoking ban setback -SK
CBC News Last Updated Jan 19 2005 04:22 PM CST
REGINA – Health Minister John Nilson says he hasn't given up on his dream to make Saskatchewan smoke free.
On Tuesday, the federal government chose not to overturn a bylaw which allows smoking on the White Bear First Nation near Carlyle.
That makes White Bear and its Bear Claw Casino the only place in Saskatchewan where patrons can legally smoke. The band's bylaw allows smoking in 40 per cent of the facility.
Off the reserve, the provincial smoking ban that came into effect on Jan. 1 is the law of the land.
The two sets of rules create an awkward situation for the provincial government.
Earlier this week, Nilson was telling the public that flagrant violation of the ban would mean fines as high as $500 for individuals and $5,000 for proprietors. He also said there could be tickets given out as early as this week.
On Wednesday, Nilson said he remains committed to the smoking ban, even if it will no longer be province-wide. He said he'll continue to hold discussions with First Nations leaders and the federal government in pursuit of a single non-smoking law.
"This is one of the most important public health laws and one of the laws that will have the greatest effect on the health of our Saskatchewan citizens," he said.
"But you have to work within the rules, you have to work within our Constitution, you have to work with all the people that are involved."
Hoteliers say it's not fair they have to obey a law that an Indian-run casino does not.
Nilson said he does not support a request from hotel owners to allow ventilated smoking rooms.
http://sask.cbc.ca/regionalnews/caches/smoking-ban050119.html
I DON'T think so much fuss should be made about smoking in this society. I think we should spend more time and money on a far more deadly disease, alcoholism. Why don't we have disgusting pictures of road carnage, flaccid penises, cirrhotic livers and shrivelled brains on alcohol bottles? Or how about the violence against family brought on by the consumption of alcohol, homelessness and the myriad of other ills?
Renate Van Dorsser
(Booze has its benefits.)
http://canoe.ca/NewsStand/EdmontonSun/Letters/
Used to be a great country
Fri, January 21, 2005Re: No place for tobacco (Murray Gibson Letter of the Day. Jan. 20).
The government regulates and legislates way too much already. The owners of pharmacies, or any other business for that matter, should have the right to sell anything they wish as long as it is not illegal; last time I checked tobacco is still legal. What concern is it of yours or anybody's how much the tobacco companies spent on advertising? They are a company and I am quite positive that companies advertise to sell their product.
Canada used to be considered a great country because of its rights and freedoms. Not any longer with the government and groups like yours interfering wherever they choose and much too often.
Enough already; if tobacco is about addiction, why don't you get a group going to ban VLTs and liquor? How much are these addictions costing the taxpayer? What about the government wanting to legalize marijuana? Better yet, I don't like vehicle exhaust fumes in the air that I breathe, so maybe the government should ban all vehicle use too, get with the program. If you don't smoke then don't let it be your concern!
M. Stevens
Winnipeg
(Voice in the wilderness.)
http://www.winnipegsun.com/NewsStand/WinnipegSun/Letters/
Kwong comes down on side of smoking ban -AB
Lieutenant-governor starts term by wading into contentious public debate
Larry Johnsrude and Bill Mah The Edmonton Journal Friday, January 21, 2005
EDMONTON - Newly appointed Lt.-Gov. Norman Kwong waded into the contentious smoking debate Thursday, publicly disagreeing with Premier Ralph Klein's stand opposing a provincewide ban on smoking in public places and at work.
Less than an hour after officially taking over as ceremonial head of state, Kwong shunned royal protocol and made an unusual public pronouncement when he said he supports a provincewide ban on smoking.
"I hate to jump on people, the way they live their lives," the former Edmonton Eskimos football player told reporters after a ceremony installing him as Alberta's 16th lieutenant-governor.
"But if you asked me if I was in favour or not, I think I'd have to be in favour of a ban."
Representatives of the Queen are expected to avoid commenting on controversial public issues. Kwong had said he would likely be less outspoken than his predecessor, Lois Hole. But when asked for his opinions on a smoking ban, he said he felt it would deter young people from taking up the habit.
Earlier, the premier had rejected a provincewide ban as ineffective in getting people to quit or cut back.
But anti-smoking advocates say he is ignoring his own government's studies.
"One thing the research has been clear on is that when smoking bans are in effect, more people quit and those who don't quit end up smoking less," said Les Hagen, executive director of Action on Smoking and Health.
And an official for the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission, a provincial government agency, said research shows smoking bans are effective in getting smokers to kick the habit or cut down.
"The more you limit the places where people can smoke, the more quit attempts they will make," said Lloyd Carr, AADAC's senior manager for tobacco reduction. He would not comment on the apparent contradiction between AADAC's reports and Klein's comments.
"The premier said what he said, and I have nothing to add to that," said Carr.
Dr. Gerry Predy, medical health officer for Capital Health, said a provincewide ban is necessary to promote the health of non-smokers.
"In terms of preventing exposure to environmental (second-hand) tobacco smoke, particularly for people who are working in places like bars, I think it is important to have a smoking ban."
In the latest installment in a debate over banning smoking in public places, Klein said Wednesday a provincewide ban would be ineffective and bad for business. Asked to clarify his remarks, he said Thursday he believed children should be protected from second-hand smoke, but he wouldn't endorse a provincewide ban.
"Let's not be overboard on this issue," he said. "What we need to do is protect children from the influence of smoke and smoking. But at the same time, not be so disruptive to business as to harm business."
Research compiled by AADAC and other health groups, however, suggests banning smoking does encourage people to quit.
"Smokers who are employed in workplaces with smoking bans are likely to consume fewer cigarettes per day, are likely to be considering quitting and quit at a higher rate than do smokers employed in workplaces with no or weaker policies," says AADAC's Tobacco Basics Handbook, based on research from across North America and Europe.
Numerous Alberta municipalities have adopted bylaws prohibiting smoking in public places. Edmonton's ban on smoking in bars, casinos and bingo halls will take effect in July.
Health Minister Iris Evans has proposed a provincewide ban on smoking, but Klein rejected the idea. He said Wednesday that during a recent trip to Central Canada he didn't notice that people from Ontario, where there are widespread smoking bans, were any healthier than in Quebec, which has no smoking bans.
However, statistics show that 25 per cent of Quebecers over 15 years old smoke, the highest rate in Canada, compared to 20 per cent in Ontario. The rate for Alberta is also 20 per cent, the national average.
"There are more smokers in Quebec and there are more people who are unhealthy because of smoking in Quebec," said Hagen.
Ontario has banned smoking in public places, including bars and restaurants, in major cities including Toronto and Ottawa and is planning a provincewide ban in May 2006. Quebec is also considering a provincewide smoking ban, possibly as early as this fall.
Research also suggests fears by bar-owners about lost business may be unfounded. A study by the Ontario tobacco research unit at the University of Toronto found there was virtually no negative economic impact from Ottawa's smoking ban, which took effect in September 2001.
"Communities considering implementing smoke-free bylaws need not be concerned that bars and restaurants will be adversely affected," the study said.
The premier also said Wednesday people who don't want to work in a smoking environment should find another job.
Dan MacLennan, president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, said that is unrealistic. His union pressed successfully for a ban on smoking in provincial jails after four guards brought Workers' Compensation Board claims arising from second-hand smoke.
"Correction workers were told for decades: If you don't like it, go work someplace else," said MacLennan. "But the province did the right thing there and I'm hoping they do the right thing now."
*posted comment
Editorial - Smokescreen -MB
Friday, January 21st, 2005
Manitoba retailers soon will be forced to hide cigarettes, like forbidden fruit, behind blinds or under the counter to prevent public display of tobacco products. A similar Saskatchewan law was upheld this week by the Supreme Court of Canada. The court found the provincial law did not conflict with the federal Tobacco Act, which permits the display of tobacco products in retail outlets.
There's no doubt that smoking carries health risks. The government's campaign to "de-normalize" cigarettes is aimed to help people to quit and to keep young people from picking up the habit. According to Statistics Canada last year, the number of smokers fell to 4.7 million in 2003 compared with 5.8 million nine years earlier. But teenagers, particularly girls, continued to take up the habit. This despite the many years of government anti-smoking campaigns and the increasing restrictions on tobacco advertising. The Manitoba government, like Saskatchewan, believes young people continue to get hooked because they can walk into corner stores and gas stations and see cigarettes for sale. This is theoretical and it beggars belief.
The reasons why teens, why young women take up smoking are not well known, despite all of the statistics gathered on Canadians' love affair with tobacco. Governments are quick to demonize tobacco, but it is unlikely cigarettes will be banned outright, given the hundreds of millions of dollars governments pull in each year in tobacco taxes. Manitoba expects to collect $203.7 million this year alone from its tobacco tax. It spends a tiny fraction of that on anti-smoking campaigns. Instead it will force retailers, many of them small operators, to give up lucrative advertising dollars they get from tobacco companies for displaying the product on a hope it will help cut smoking.
Manitoba should use more of the money it collects from tobacco levies to buy, with other governments, good national research on why young Canadians take up the habit and why teens who don't quit smoking. Then the anti-smoking campaigns and health information pamphlets can be targeted for greatest effect.
Thou shalt not smoke Bibles -MB
By Kevin Rollason Friday, January 21st, 2005
THE Bible is the hottest read at Headingley jail these days.
Unfortunately, it's because the inmates are using the Good Book's pages to roll cigarettes.
Staff and clergy at Headingley Correctional Centre are trying to get prisoners to stop the practice after dozens of Bibles were defaced and destroyed by inmates who use the thin pages to roll and smoke homemade, uh, cell-made cigarettes.
Prison staff have begun to confiscate all the Bibles distributed to prisoners and are keeping track of who has them and who's defacing them.
In a letter and interview with the Free Press, Robert Mayo, a Headingley inmate, said he has been left with only his own personal Bibles he brought with him to the institution.
"They shouldn't be doing this because the Bible will show (inmates) another path instead of the one they're following now," Mayo said.
"I believe that's what society wants as well."
When contacted, Gideons' Ron Muir said he hadn't heard what the inmates were doing to the Bibles instead of reading them, but when he confirmed it was true he said he would be bringing more Bibles to Headingley.
"They've destroyed about 50 Bibles," Muir said.
"They're going to need more Bibles and I'll bring them more."
Muir said he had only heard of one other prison, in the United States, where inmates used pages from the Bible to roll smokes.
Headingley superintendent Cathy Sandney said even though the provincial institution is smoke-free, it's still hard to stop inmates from smoking.
"It's very difficult to catch them because they're very discreet," she said.
Prisoners are quite creative in an effort to light up. Sandney said inmates use a mixture of tea leaves from tea bags and Nicorette gum. The inmates boil the gum, mix it with tea leaves, dry it, and then put it in some form of rolling paper.
And Sandney vowed -- not necessarily on a Bible -- that there will be consequences to prisoners who rip out pages.
"They may have to pay for it," she said.
"We're just in the process of pulling them. Normally, there's a consequence when you destroy government property."
Mind you, these are inmates who have probably already violated other Bible commandments. Think, Thou shalt not steal.
If they've violated Thou shalt not kill, the inmate most likely wouldn't be at Headingley, which is for prisoners with sentences of less than two years of length, but at the federal Stony Mountain Institution.
At Stony, prisoners can buy and smoke cigarettes in fresh-air areas and in cells.
"Our inmates don't have to use Bibles because our inmates can smoke here -- that's the difference," said Stony spokeswoman Linda Garwood-Filbert, adding smoking is currently under a national review.
Murray Gibson, executive director of the Manitoba Tobacco Reduction Alliance, was shaking his head at the lengths inmates would go to satisfy their nicotine craving.
"This shows the addictive nature of smoking," Gibson said.
"A person has to want to quit before they quit. Many people just aren't there yet."
Holy rollers stopped
By FRANK LANDRY, LEGISLATURE REPORTER Fri, January 21, 2005
Used pages from Bibles to make their cigarettes
Holy smokes! Inmates at Headingley Correctional Centre have had their prison-issued Bibles confiscated because too many pages were being ripped from the books and used as rolling papers.
The jail is supposed to be smoke free.
"We're a little bit surprised (inmates) would go to such lengths to try and make a home-made cigarette," said Cathy Sandney, the jail's superintendent.
Sandney said Bibles used to be available for inmates in the living quarters of the prison -- including cell blocks, dorms and common areas. About two weeks ago the chaplains asked for the books to be removed after it was learned Bibles were being defaced and pages were going up in smoke, she said.
Inmates wanting a copy of the Good Book must now ask for it from chaplains, who assess whether the Scriptures will be read or burned, Sandney said.
Tory justice critic Kelvin Goertzen said he finds burning Bibles offensive, but taking away the scriptures is not the answer.
Goertzen said Justice Minister Gord Mackintosh should have hired additional staff to crack down on prison puffers when Headingley and other provincial jails went smoke free in 2003.
"It's a foolish NDP government system where you can get crack pipes on the street for free if you're a cocaine addict but you can't have access to Bibles in prison anymore," Goertzen said.
SUPPORTS CRACKDOWN
Mackintosh declined to comment on the situation at Headingley, saying he was unfamiliar with what's been going on. A spokesman later said Mackintosh supports the crackdown.
The Winnipeg Sun first reported in December inmates in Manitoba's provincial jails were getting around a smoking ban by making "tobacco" from nicotine chewing-pieces and used tea leaves.
Rolling papers are fashioned from pages ripped out of Bibles, apparently because the paper is thin and burns well.
Sandney said guards have never caught an inmate puffing on a holy smoke, but defaced Bibles and a spike in tea bag sales is evidence it's happening. If an inmate is nabbed, they could be forced to pay for the book or even be charged for damaging government property, she said.
Goertzen said tougher sanctions are needed to discourage inmates from smoking.
Headingley inmate Robert Mayo said the jail's policy is an assault on his religious freedom.
Mayo, who is awaiting trail for a violent home invasion, said many prisoners are afraid to ask for copies because they will be ridiculed by other inmates. He's been lending out a personal copy.
"If you take away the written word of the Lord, where else is there to turn?" Mayo said.
Graham Stewart, executive director of the John Howard Society of Canada -- a prisoners' rights group -- said it seems the provincial jail had no choice but to implement the Bible ban.
"We know chaplains have very few resources in prisons -- practically none," Stewart said. "If this was becoming a significant cost factor than they're doing what they have to do to preserve that resource."
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/WinnipegSun/News/2005/01/21/905734-sun.html
Smoking 'gestapo' raids bar -SK
Health inspectors ticket Weyburn hotel
Veronica RhodesLeader-Post Friday, January 21, 2005
A team of health inspectors with a police escort pounced on a Weyburn bar Wednesday night, blowing a whistle and writing up tickets for the business, says the bar owner and a patron.
"This is like the Gestapo, a raid. How ridiculous is this getting?" said Rob Joyal, owner of the Royal Hotel in Weyburn.
Grant Paulson, senior public health inspector with the Sun Country Regional Health Authority, said four health inspectors entered the bar with two police officers and used a whistle to get the attention of the patrons and the staff.
Two inspectors returned to the bar Thursday at lunchtime to hand out four more tickets to smoking patrons.
All the fines were for not complying with the Tobacco Control Amendment Act, which came into effect Jan. 1 and calls for all enclosed public places to be entirely smoke-free.
Joyal received six tickets worth $540 each. He was fined for providing ashtrays, failing to post required "no smoking" signs and failing to ask patrons to stop smoking or holding lighted tobacco.
"Three of them are under my personal name then three of them, exact duplicates, are under my company name," said Joyal.
Paulson could say little about the ticketing because it is an on-going investigation, but said under the Act, both the proprietor and the business can be fined. He defended the manner inspectors used in handing out fines Wednesday night.
"We have a protocol to follow and it's a legal process. We just wanted to make sure we were following our protocol and doing things properly," said Paulson.
Weyburn Police Chief Rod Horsman confirmed uniformed officers accompanied inspectors at their request, but couldn't say how many officers were involved.
Joyal said there were three police officers and five health inspectors, with two of them coming into the bar undercover before the rest arrived 30 minutes later.
"Judging by the tickets and judging by the duplicated tickets, obviously the word from the top is, 'let's hit them, let's hit them hard, let's shut them up and put this to sleep'. I'll tell you right now, that's not going to be the case," said Joyal.
In December, the government announced a 60-day grace period, where public health officers would focus on educating businesses and individuals about the ban, rather than ticketing. But earlier this week, Health Minister John Nilson said any establishment or patron in flagrant non-compliance of the law would be fined.
Since the smoking ban came into effect, Joyal has made customers aware that he disagrees with the ban and will continue to allow patrons to smoke in the bar. Joyal contends no level playing field exists if First Nation-run casinos can allow smoking while he can't have a ventilated smoking room.
"I'm calling on smokers, non-smokers, anyone who believes in equal rights to make some noise over this, to back me up on this. Phone your MLAs. This issue has gone beyond smoking, it's more about equality now," said Joyal.
Tom Mullin, executive vice-president of the Hotels Association of Saskatchewan, said he is still hoping the province will consider rescinding the law to allow ventilated smoking rooms. The association has sent a letter to Nilson, Industry and Resources Minister Eric Cline and Deputy Premier Clay Serby asking to meet with government.
"We haven't strayed from our point that the ventilated rooms will work. All we want is the option to do that," said Mullin.
Paulson said ticketing will happen whenever the offence occurs and inspectors may be putting in longer hours until the region has full compliance with the ban.
"We are very committed to this. It is really one of the most effective pieces of legislation that we will come across in our lifetime, as in our careers. I can't think of any other piece of legislation that could have a wider, more beneficial effect to the population," said Paulson.
For now, Joyal is keeping ashtrays out on the tables and will keep letting patrons smoke. He said he will fight the tickets in a Weyburn courtroom Feb. 21.
http://www.canada.com/regina/leaderpost/news/story.html?id=f014bfc4-4a92-4cd6-b9b1-aa7b41e45b69
To all you anti-smoking nazis, there are already a lot more places where I can't smoke than places I can, so if my smoking is still interfering with your carbon monoxide exhaust intake, then it's your own fault. Quit your whining and sniveling, get a life, and get off your holier than thou horse. You'll live
longer!
Robert McMechan
(High blood pressure is harmful to the health, too.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ralph Klein's comments on the overall health of non-smoking vs. smoking jurisdictions just slays me. ("Puffing paradox," Rick Bell, Jan. 20.) Words describing his ignorance don't exist. Being a slave to tobacco clearly convolutes any form of lucid thought. Who cares about the health-care costs, ventilation systems, workplace health and safety, second-hand smoke fatalities or the worldwide movement limiting second-hand smoke. After all, Ralph and his friends are too old to change their habits. Klein decides that since he can't quit or control his addiction, others will suffer the consequences. There are no valid arguments supporting smoking in any public place including the age-old argument about declining business revenue. The fact is some but not all
businesses have a short-term drop in revenue, but not for long and in many
cases, business increases.
Wade Wayde
(Customers can vote with their wallets.)
calgarysun
http://www.canoe.ca/CalgarySun/editorial.html#letters
Crusaders target inmates -MB
LettersSat, January 22, 2005
Smoking is the least of all dangers facing an inmate. He can be raped, wounded in a prison brawl, killed by another inmate; he can lose his wife, children and friends; even under the best of circumstances, his future is bleak.
And we want to turn this guy into a sweet, health-conscious New Ager? This is like telling a starving man to stay away from non-organically grown produce.
The anti-smoking lobby, mixing lofty ideals and authoritarian impulses, as most crusaders do, want inmates to take programs to help them break the habit. Why would a method that often fails when applied to well-adjusted citizens be successful in the tense environment of prison life?
Depriving inmates of cigarettes is an imposition of middle-class values on a population that is largely under-educated and thus, as statistics show, more likely to smoke.
Inmates are paying their dues and their cell is their home. How far can the state invade someone's privacy?
Thomas Laprade
Thunder Bay, Ont.
(Just watch 'em.)
http://www.winnipegsun.com/NewsStand/WinnipegSun/Letters/
On smoking, premier is a dinosaur
By MINDELLE JACOBS -- For the Edmonton Sun Sat, January 22, 2005
You have to hand it to Ralph Klein. He may have taken an unconscionable position on the smoking-ban issue but at least he's honest about it.
The premier has weighed business considerations against the need to reduce tobacco consumption, and commerce won out.
"I don't want to be interventionist to the point where we disrupt and hurt businesses," Klein said this week when questioned by reporters on the subject of a provincewide smoking ban.
Klein defended his stance, saying he's not a "dinosaur" on the issue. Well, frankly, a premier who suggests that people who object to working in a smoking environment simply look for other jobs hasn't evolved very far.
He did concede, however, that he would support a smoking ban in places accessible to children. It's a step forward from his earlier position, when he appeared to flatly rule out any ban at all. And yesterday, he seemed even more malleable, saying the issue will be discussed by the Tory caucus.
Perhaps Klein felt pressured after new Lt.-Gov. Norman Kwong spoke out in favour of an Alberta-wide workplace smoking ban in his first news conference.
Whatever the case, it's embarrassing when the premier spouts off on subjects with which he is clearly not familiar.
Smoking bans are "useless," he told reporters.
On the contrary, such bans mean smokers don't smoke as much, those who have quit aren't as tempted to light up and non-smokers aren't exposed to tobacco in public places.
Since Big Tobacco is doing all it can to entice people to smoke, it's the responsibility of the federal and provincial governments to retaliate by denormalizing tobacco.
Leaving it up to municipalities to decide whether to institute smoking bans is a cop-out.
More Canadians die from smoking annually (about 45,000) than from car accidents, suicide, murder, AIDS and drug abuse combined.
Dan MacLennan, president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, is right that a seat-belt law would have never seen the light of day in Alberta if it had been left up to local communities.
We expect decisive, responsible governance from our federal and provincial politicians on subjects of overriding importance - like tobacco reduction.
So let's get with the picture and bring in a provincewide smoking ban. The worry over lost jobs is largely a red herring. Most people don't smoke.
The ones who do can take their smelly habits outside.
And now that the Supreme Court of Canada has upheld a Saskatchewan law banning the retail display of tobacco products in stores accessible to children, Alberta should follow suit with similar legislation.
This week's Supreme Court decision was a big loss for the tobacco industry. Since it's killing its current customers, it must constantly woo new ones.
Most smokers begin puffing in their teens, and you can't miss the massive displays of tobacco products in stores across the country.
"Such displays ... could be on countertops next to bubblegum or hockey cards, or could form a power wall behind the counter," noted the Canadian Cancer Society and three other intervenors in their written arguments in the court case.
In 2003, tobacco manufacturers in Canada paid stores $88 million to give cigaret