The Canadian Smokers Rights Newsletter
A Section of The United Pro Choice Smokers Rights NewsletterIssue 303 - November 19 2004
Lotteries loses $30M in wake of butt ban-MB
National smoking ban push urged -CA
Defiant council lets vets light up- ON
City councillor threatens veterans -ON
A smoking ban's forgotten victims -ON
Workplace Safety officers can police smoking ban -MB
Smoking ban vote delayed two weeks -ON
Smoking bylaw: Backlash begins- ON
Brandon OKs smoking in outdoor facilities -MB
CPA: Staff support smoking rooms in psychiatric units
Smoking rooms not up to snuff - ON
City and Legion meet -ON
Smoking Ban Fallout (video)- ON
Do You Want To Kick Butt On a Smokin' New Reality Show? - BC
Discount cigarettes a reasonable concession, says N.S. doc -NS
Competition Bureau has yet to rule on cigarette labelling allegations -CA
New treatment targets smokers with panic disorder
Canada Taking Too Long to Resolve Tobacco Ad Case, Globe Says
Mixed reviews for smoking ban
Smoke cops strike Treherne hotelier vows to fight 'fascist law' -MB
Butt ban faces test in court -MB
Retreat targets smoking - MB
Peanut overdose taught a lesson-MB
Federal agency should nurture 'wellness,' say doctors
Health Canada chops aboriginal quit-smoking funds
Traces of prescription drugs found in tap water
Smoking ban snuffing out Canadian business profits
Everyone had a BLAST -MB
Hoteliers revolt -MB
Lotteries loses $30M in wake of butt ban-MB
Hopes new VLTs will draw customers back
By Dan Lett Thursday, November 4th, 2004
MANITOBA Lotteries Corp. lost more than $30 million last year as smoking bans in Winnipeg and Brandon drove gamblers away from casinos and video lottery terminals.
However, lotteries officials are hopeful future losses may not be as bad as first predicted. MLC previously forecast losses for the current fiscal year could reach $50 million once the province went completely smoke free.
The final results for the fiscal year ending March 2004 show net income from all forms of gambling dipped to $235.4 million, down 11.3 per cent from the $265 million earned in the previous year.
The biggest losses were posted in casino operations, which produced $14.2 million less than the previous year. Income from video lottery terminals declined $11.1 million, while lottery income declined $4.8 million.
Lotteries spokeswoman Susan Olynik said the losses were consistent with earlier forecasts of the impacts of smoking bans in Winnipeg and Brandon. Last year, MLC predicted a loss in excess of $26 million.
There is some reason for optimism in the current fiscal year, Olynik said.
First quarter financial results, also released yesterday, show a total decline in net income of $5.5 million, evidence the pace of revenue loss has slowed, she said.
Anecdotally, casino managers are reporting that some of their best smoking patrons who fled to avoid the ban are returning, Olynik said.
MLC is also banking on a new $75-million fleet of VLTs, which were put into service this summer, to renew interest among gamblers, Olynik said. Bar and restaurant owners in Winnipeg and Brandon, which saw significant declines in VLT activity when smoking bans were enacted, have reported renewed interest in the newer machines, she added.
With so many variables in play in the current year it may be impossible to predict what will happen with gaming revenues, she added. Hard data on VLT revenues and casino visits will not be available until the new year.
A province-wide smoking ban was enacted on Oct. 1 and is expected to drive away some gamblers from rural and northern sites that have VLTs, Olynik said. However, MLC is hoping that 5,300 new VLTs that were put into service this summer will draw new interest from gamblers turned off by the smoking bans, she said.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/
National smoking ban push urged
Mon, November 8, 2004 MARIA MCCLINTOCK, SUN OTTAWA BUREAU
OTTAWA -- Canada's new public health agency should lead the charge in creating a national ban on smoking in the workplace and all indoor public spaces, states a new report commissioned by the Canadian Medical Association. The report, called Health Promotion in Canada 1974-2004: Lessons Learned, details how in the last 30 years Canada has gone from being a leader in health promotion to one primarily pre-occupied with the delivery of health care.
Authored by a trio of experts led by former federal deputy minister of health and welfare Dr. Maureen Law, the report calls on the federal public health agency to get back to basics in four areas, including anti-smoking.
'PATCHWORK'
"The current patchwork of anti-smoking legislation in Canada, which varies almost town by town, should be replaced by a unified national standard, which would include banning smoking in all workplaces and all indoor public places in the country," states the report, released over the weekend at the Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance's convention in Ottawa.
The new agency should also get in the business of promoting mental health and mental illness care, and champion a healthy weight campaign.
"Canada is in the grips of an obesity epidemic,'' the report says.
"As many as one-third of children are estimated to be overweight, while estimates say close to half of adults are overweight."
Previous successful health-promotion campaigns targeting drunk driving and wearing seat belts and bicycle helmets are proof they can work, the report says.
OBESITY, TOO
CMA president Dr. Albert Schumacher said the report is a prescription for the fledgling public health agency created almost a year ago.
"We've picked priority areas for acute treatment (under the recent health accord), but then we also have to weigh this with the prevention side of it," Schumacher said.
"A lot of these things are prevention for not only the next crisis, but also the long-term health affects of things going on, including tobacco, obesity .... and our immunization strategy."
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/EdmontonSun/News/2004/11/08/705373.html
Defiant council lets vets light up -ON
By Ann LukitsLocal News - Wednesday, November 10, 2004 @ 07:00
Veterans Erl Kish and Don Prue stood outside City Hall’s council chambers last night discussing how many air fresheners and ashtrays the city’s three Royal Canadian Legion halls will need if they decide to add smoking rooms.
Moments earlier, Kingston city council had voted 7-3 to exempt Legion halls and veterans’ organizations from the city’s controversial smoking bylaw.
The veterans quickly moved from politics to more practical considerations.
“I think it’s a pretty progressive move,” said Kish, president of Ontario Command, the governing body for 426 Legion branches in Ontario. “Now we’re heading in the right direction in the city of Kingston.”
Prue, past president of Royal Canadian Legion on Railway Street, had only a few minutes to celebrate the historic decision before he rushed off to a “big meeting” at Branch 9. He was eager to break the news to fellow Legionnaires.
“We’ve passed the biggest hurdle today,” he said.
At least two dozen members of Kingston’s three Legion branches and three local veterans organizations watched quietly as city councillors wrestled with the controversial exemption during an intense 30-minute debate.Councillor Floyd Patterson wanted to postpone the vote until the city’s legal department had an opportunity to review a decision by Mr. Justice Richard Byers of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario. Veterans’ organizations and local businesses attempted to strike down the bylaw, claiming that it discriminated against them by giving a special exemption to bingo halls. But Byers ruled on June 24, 2003, that the city had a right to discriminate provided the discrimination occurred between different “classes” of businesses and not within the same class. It’s the definition of class that Patterson wanted clarified.
Although he supported the exemption for Legions, Patterson urged councillors “to make sure we are doing the right thing.”
But Councillor Rick Downes, who opposed the Legion exemption, argued that the city’s lawyers have no authority to question a judicial decision. Patterson’s motion to refer the matter to the legal department was lost in a 7-3 vote.
Mayor Harvey Rosen also tried, without success, to defer the vote. Although he initially supported an exemption for veterans’ organizations and Legions, the mayor told council he had misgivings about the legality of the proposed amendment.
“There is a chance that this amendment may destroy the enforceability of the rest of the bylaw,” he said. “If the bylaw is bad, it may be that it’s all bad and we’ll end up with no restrictions [on smoking]. For that reason, I can’t support the motion.”
Downes proposed deferring a vote on the Legion amendment until Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman introduces provincial anti-smoking legislation later this month – but councillors voted 7-3 against waiting.
Smitherman announced last week that the province intends to ban smoking in all public and work places in the province. The minister specifically singled out Legion halls and private clubs, saying they wouldn’t receive special treatment under the legislation.
But councillors felt they owed it to veterans to give them a break, even if the exemption amounted to nothing more than a gesture.
“We are just giving them a tool to work with,” said Councillor Kevin George.
The amendment approved last night gives Legions and veterans’ organizations the right to open “designated smoking rooms” that comprise 50 per cent of the total seating area. Smoking rooms must be fully enclosed and equipped with separate ventilation systems that ventilate directly to the outside of the buildings. The rooms cannot be used as a public thoroughfare nor serviced by employees.
Voting for the amendment were councillors George Beavis, Steve Garrison, Bittu George, Kevin George, Patterson, George Stoparczyk and George Sutherland.
Voting against were Councillors Leonore Foster, Downes and Mayor Rosen.
Although he told The Whig-Standard last week that he’d vote in favour of the exemption, Councillor Ed Smith declared a conflict of interest last night and abstained from voting. Smith owns a Princess Street restaurant.
Councillor Beth Pater also declared a conflict because one of her sons owns two restaurants on Brock Street in the downtown core.
Councillor Sara Meers declared a conflict of interest because her family owns a Princess Street business that sells tobacco products. Meers noted that the motion before council didn’t involve the sale of tobacco but said she felt “more comfortable” declaring a conflict.http://www.thewhig.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentID=86100&catname=Local+News
City councillor threatens veterans
by Arthur Weinreb, November 10, 2004
Toronto City Council has been providing tax breaks to branches of the Royal Canadian Legion. Under the provisions, veterans’ clubs in Toronto receive a 100 per cent property tax rebate, which this year amounted to over a quarter of a million dollars. Councillor Howard Moscoe is planning to introduce a motion before council to revoke this tax break if the vets continue to allow smoking on the premises of their clubs.
Moscoe’s supposed reason for trying to force the clubs to become smoke free is that they are allowing non-members to drink and smoke in their premises. Out of necessity, veterans do allow non-members into their clubs. After all, the vets are a dying breed in Canada--literally. The older members are dying off and since the once proud Canada doesn’t do wars anymore, they are not being replaced. But the purpose of the clubs is to benefit those who risked their lives so that people like Howard Moscoe can be free to shoot off their big mouths. And for that service, Moscoe feels no compunction about kicking them in the teeth.
Supposedly Moscoe decided to go after those who were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice when a business owner in his riding was losing business. Apparently some patrons were leaving his establishment to drink at a legion where they can light up. Losing business? That can’t be right. After all it was Moscoe and his left wing council associates that have been telling the unwashed masses that banning smoking would increase business in restaurants and bars because all the non smokers would come out. Howard probably forgot to tell his constituent that his business was actually increasing because he was in too much of a hurry to run off to bully the vets.
What adds to this absurdity is that Moscoe is trying to sound pro business. This is the guy whose last big hurrah was to try and force the city’s taxi drivers to buy new cars instead of used ones when they need replacement vehicles. Moscoe couldn’t have cared less if some taxi drivers, mostly new arrivals to this country, lost their livelihoods. Heads filled with more grey matter than the Toronto councillor have prevailed and Moscoe’s plan to force some cabbies out of business didn’t pass. But now suddenly, he would have us believe he’s a champion of small business. The truth is that his contempt for business is obviously less than his contempt for those who spent months and years fighting for Canada and freedom.
What Moscoe has done is far worse than what Bloc Quebecois MP Andre Bellavance did last week. The rookie separatist MP refused to provide a Canadian flag to a veterans’ club because, as a separatist, he doesn’t hand out Canadian flags. At least Bellavance showed the veterans a modicum of respect by providing them with a number that they could call to obtain a flag. Moscoe’s advice to the aging war veterans was that if they want to smoke they can stand outside in the cold like everyone else does.
Howard Moscoe is a bully. Pushing around a group of elderly and disabled war veterans makes him feel good. If he actually had any guts, he would run over to Afghanistan and force our current troops to butt out. But Afghanistan is dangerous and you pretty well need a weapon over there. Unfortunately, the only thing that Howard can shoot off is his oversized mouth.
To threaten those who risked their lives and who have served this country so well is bad enough, but to do it the week before Remembrance Day is absolutely disgusting. The timing of Moscoe’s threat clearly shows what a poor excuse for a human being he actually is. His sarcastic quip that veterans cannot be allowed to smoke because they are elderly and dying anyway shows a degree of sensitivity usually only found in serial killers. To Howard Moscoe, these veterans are nothing more than props--to be used so that the little councillor can show what a big man he is. In a council of anti-war leftists, who are on a never ending quest to control every aspect of peoples’ lives, Howard Moscoe stands out.
As with his indifference to hard working taxi drivers, hopefully cooler and more compassionate heads will prevail.
http://www.torontofreepress.com/2004/toronto111004.htm
A smoking ban's forgotten victims -ON
The following article appeared in the National Post on Nov. 11, 2004.
By Douglas Needham
TORONTO - Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman's vow to introduce a "100% smoking ban" in all public places and workplaces is causing indigestion among many of the province's hospitality operators, two-thirds of which are small, independent businesses. It doesn't have to be this way.
Ontario's hospitality industry has struggled for the past three years. The impact of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks still lingers, and business has not yet returned to the levels of mid-2001. The industry has been hit hard by a series of other shocks, too, including SARS, erratic weather, the 2003 power blackout, the rising Canadian dollar, BSE (mad cow disease) and a precipitous 34% decline in visitors from outside Canada to the province.
On the other side of the ledger, operators are wrestling with skyrocketing costs for such essentials as business insurance, energy and food and beverage products.
Now, the threat of a complete ban on smoking in Ontario hospitality establishments has some proprietors wondering if this will be the "last call" for their businesses.
The hospitality industry supports consistent, province-wide smoking legislation to replace the confusing array of municipal bylaws. But, as with any issue, the law ought to strike a reasonable balance among various interests; in this case, between the need to improve public health and the economic well-being of a $21-billion industry and its 491,000 employees.
Health activists are pushing for an outright ban, citing studies that conclude that smoking bans won't hurt the hospitality industry. Unfortunately, these studies fail to isolate the effect of smoking bans on establishments such as bars, pubs, taverns, lounges, legions and nightclubs, where the predominant activity is drinking and socializing.
Last year, for example, the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit (OTRU) studied Ottawa's restaurant and bar industry in the eight months following that city's Aug. 1, 2001 smoking ban. Analyzing taxable sales data from the Ontario Ministry of Finance, the OTRU study concluded that there was no evidence that the smoking ban had harmed bar and restaurant sales. But when the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association examined the same data and isolated sales of drinking establishments, it found quite a different result -- sales at Ottawa bars, taverns and nightclubs were actually 10% lower than they would have been without the smoking ban.
A more recent study that restricted its analysis to drinking establishments was undertaken among Dublin pubs in July, 2004, by Behaviour and Attitudes, a marketing research company. Two months into Ireland's smoking ban, the study found that pub sales were down 16% on average while pub employment was off by 14%.
The loss of sales is not the only concern for hospitality operators about a smoking ban. Many of them have made capital investments to build designated smoking rooms (DSRs) to comply with municipal smoking bylaws. More than 500 operators have constructed DSRs in their establishments across Ontario. They made these investments relying in good faith on bylaws that did not carry expiry dates, and thus counting on a long-term payback from these considerable capital expenditures of $15,000 to $300,000.
Now they're in the untenable position of having made an investment to comply with one level of government and suffering financially to comply with another.
The economic impact, however, is only one aspect of Ontario's smoking debate. The other is the health of employees who are exposed to tobacco smoke in the workplace environment. The province of British Columbia has addressed this issue directly with objective, science-driven legislation administered by its Workers' Compensation Board (WCB).
British Columbia tried a province-wide smoking ban in 2000 but in the end replaced it with WCB regulations that set a provincial standard for the construction and operation of DSRs. These rooms are separate from the rest of the facility and must meet a ventilation standard set by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). Customers outside the designated smoking room are protected from exposure to tobacco smoke. Employees have the right to refuse to work in the designated smoking room and those that choose to do so must limit their time there to no more than 20% of their shift.
B.C.'s legislation proved to be a major step toward making the province's hospitality operations smoke-free, since 92% of establishments chose not to make capital investments in DSRs. The vast majority of businesses that did install DSRs are pubs, bars, taverns, legions, bingo halls and nightclubs: adult-oriented establishments that tend to have a significant smoking clientele.
This is the model Ontario ought to follow -- a science-based solution that protects the health of hospitality employees. Ontario should establish air quality standards and occupational exposure limits for tobacco smoke in designated smoking rooms, while giving business owners the option of either meeting these standards or banning smoking in their establishments.
Douglas Needham is the president of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association.
http://www.crfa.ca/issues/bytopic/smokingregulations_forgottenvictims.asp
Workplace Safety officers can police smoking ban -MB
Nov, 11, 2004
An unpublicized regulation, filed by the province the day before the smoking ban began, allows Workplace Safety and Health inspectors to apply penalties for contraventions of the smoking ban act.
The Workplace Safety Regulation, Regulation 183/2004, downloadable here, states that a contravention of the Non Smokers Health Protection Act is deemed to be a contravention of the Workplace Safety and Health Act, for the purpose of issuing an improvement order or a stop work warning.
Theoretically, a Workplace Safety and Health officer could go as far as to issue a Stop Work order if he or she believes the contravention does "involve a serious risk to the safety or health of any person in or about the workplace".
The Non-Smokers Health Protection Act specifies penalties for both individuals who smoke and premises where the offence occurs, but the Workplace Safety Regulation is silent on any enforcement or penalties for patrons who smoke.
*latest Non Smokers Protection act : http://web2.gov.mb.ca/bills/sess/b021e.php
http://www.manitobahotelassociation.ca/cgi-bin/story.cgi?id=244
Smoking ban vote delayed two weeks
PORT HOPE - The public will have one final opportunity to make a pitch either for or against a smoking ban in Port Hope workplaces.At Tuesday's meeting, council delayed final passage of the proposed smoke-free bylaw until the Nov. 23 meeting to allow residents a chance to review and comment on the document. In addition, a request for $5,000 to cover signs for municipal buildings has been forwarded to the budget committee. If passed, all work places in Port Hope will become smoke free as of June 1, 2005.
At the meeting, Carol Kirton, president of the United Steelworkers of America Local 889 representing 800 workers at the Port Hope Collins and Aikman plant told council the enactment of the bylaw to cover all workplaces does not take into consideration manufacturers or businesses who have been proactive in implementing smoking policies.
Ms. Kirton explained the Port Hope facility already has programs and policies in place that protects the health and safety of all employees. She noted 55 per cent of the employees smoke and added an earlier total ban of smoking at the plant did not work.
"It took me back to the high school days, with people smoking in broom closets," she says.
The plant now has separate lunch rooms and patio areas to meet the needs of both smokers and non-smokers.
"As long as cigarettes are for sale at convenience stores, a ban like this violates freedom of choice," she adds.
Under the proposed ban, both the Port Hope Police Service and the Northumberland Ontario Provincial Police have agreed to enforce the bylaw when there is a complaint. Non-compliance will result in a set fine of $105. Outdoor patios and home occupation businesses are exempt from the ban. In addition, the bylaw includes a smoking ban within 10 metres from the door or window of any building owned or leased by the municipality with a set fine of $25.
http://www.durhamregion.com/dr/nn/news/story/2337233p-2706932c.html
Smoking bylaw: Backlash begins- ON
By Ann Lukits Local News - Thursday, November 11, 2004 @ 07:00
Kingston bar and restaurant owners vow to seek the same smoking bylaw exemption for outdoor patios that was granted this week to local legions.
The business owners reacted swiftly and angrily to Tuesday’s decision by city politicians who approved an exemption to the city’s smoking bylaw.
“In a nutshell, this is just another stupid decision by City Hall,” said Mike Menikefs, owner of Dailey’s Cafe in Progress Square in the city’s west end. “I’m not denying a veteran should get extra treatment but they were veterans 18 months ago when the smoking bylaw came in.
“Now, all of a sudden, why are they getting extra special treatment?”
The exemption allows Royal Canadian Legion halls and private veterans’ clubs to establish separate ventilated smoking rooms.
Councillors were warned, before the decision this week, that granting an exemption could open the floodgates to other exemption requests.
Said Brian Coghlan, owner of Whiskey Willy’s Restaurant on Gardiners Road:
“The city of Kingston never ceases to amaze me. They were so forceful on this whole issue before and now all of a sudden they’re wavering.“I wonder if they’ll waver for our group?”
Bruce Clark, owner of The Toucan and Tango downtown drinking establishments, said that “now they’ve opened this can of worms, we know it [the bylaw] can be changed. We’re going to be fighting for that.”
Peter Betas, owner of Olympia Billiards & Take-Out Restaurant on Charles Street, said: “I got nothing against these guys, but what’s wrong with us?
We pay taxes.”
Kingston councillors voted 7-3 Tuesday to amend the smoking bylaw to allow Legion halls and veterans’ groups to convert half their seating areas to smoking rooms. Three Legion branches and four veterans’ associations are affected by the amendment, which gives them the same status as bingo halls.
Bingo halls got the exemption when the bylaw was enacted in May 2003.
Councillors Leonore Foster and Rick Downes warned councillors this week that making an exception for veterans would prompt other groups to seek exemptions.
Glenn Rea, general manager of the Lone Star Texas Grill on Ontario Street, said he is definitely interested in pursuing an exemption for outdoor patios. The smoking restrictions on patios remain a sore point with restaurant owners and the general public, he said.
“We have had very little pushback from our customers [on indoor restrictions] but the biggest pushback we’ve had and continue to get is when patio season is upon us,” Rea said.
“People just don’t understand why you can walk through 10 people smoking outside a government building but you can’t smoke four tables away outdoors.”
Toucan owner Clark worries that provincial smoking legislation won’t be as tough on patios as the city’s smoking bylaw and Kingston “will look like some kind of a backwater because we have this law that’s so restrictive and all the rest of Ontario won’t.”
“I’m hoping we can get a group of bar owners together to try and fight this patio thing and just comply with the Ontario law,” Clark said.
Kingston lawyer Philip Osanic said bar and restaurant owners shouldn’t waste their time on trying to amend the city’s smoking bylaw. He said the bylaw can’t be enforced on patios adjacent to major roadways anyway because Highway Traffic Act restrictions override the municipal legislation.
To ensure smoking restrictions apply to all outdoor patios, the city included a “no smoking” clause in patio lease agreements instead.
Osanic said bar and restaurant owners don’t have to “touch the bylaw” and recommended they try a little political lobbying instead. He suggested the owners ask council to amend the summer lease agreements for outdoor patios to allow smoking after sunset when most children are in bed.
“There doesn’t need to be an exemption in this bylaw for outdoor patios,” he said. “The bylaw can’t be enforced on those roadways and the city knows it.”
Osanic represented local Legions, veterans’ clubs, bars, restaurants and billiards establishments last spring when they launched a legal challenge to the smoking bylaw, claiming the city had discriminated against them by giving an exemption to bingo halls.
Mr. Justice Richard Byers of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled against the group, saying the Municipal Act gives municipalities the right to discriminate between different classes of persons and businesses.
Byers noted in his three-page judgment that council’s decision to give special treatment to bingo halls was a political one that had nothing to do with public health, adding that “it must have known that this would upset everybody else.”
Mayor Harvey Rosen and Councillor Floyd Patterson wanted City Hall lawyers to review the Byers ruling before council voted to amend the smoking bylaw.
They warned that exempting Legions and veterans’ groups might make the rest of the bylaw unenforceable.
But Osanic said that council doesn’t need to review the Byers decision because the Municipal Act gives municipalities the power to differentiate “in any way and on any basis” it considers appropriate.
“City council just amended their bylaw to determine that service clubs and Legions are specifically defined as a separate class,” he said.
Osanic said the Legion amendment proves that Kingston’s medical officer of health and Councillor Downes “were overly zealous and that city council has taken a step back and said ‘wait a minute, it’s not illegal to smoke.’ ”
Downes chaired a City Hall committee that consulted widely before drafting the controversial bylaw.
Dr. Ian Gemmill, Kingston’s medical officer of health, said yesterday he doesn’t support any exemptions to the bylaw, noting the decision to make an exception for veterans was a political one that had nothing to do with health.
“I care about the health of veterans as much as I care about the health of anybody else, maybe more – my dad was a veteran,” Gemmill said. “Why should we have less for the veterans, especially the non-smoking veterans, than we have for the rest of the population?
“Having said that, I think that this is an issue that is emotionally charged. The veterans served the country and I think everybody
sympathizes about that part of it.”
Gemmill said his biggest concern is that council has opened the door “to others asking for exemptions who don’t have this same kind of emotional pull but may have some economic pull.
“That would be a travesty if the bylaw started to unravel for that reason.”
Three members of council serve on the board of health but only one, Downes, voted against the Legion amendment. Councillor Beth Pater declared a conflict of interest and abstained from voting.
Councillor George Beavis, who voted for the Legion exemption, declared a conflict when the bylaw was first approved in October 2002 because his daughter worked at a bingo hall. He told The Whig this week that he no
longer has a conflict because she has a different job.Beavis said he also consulted a lawyer about another possible conflict:
his brother, Chuck Beavis, is president of Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 9, on Railway Street.
The lawyer told him he did not have a conflict because of his brother, Councillor Beavis said.http://www.thewhig.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=86207&catname=Local+News
Brandon OKs smoking in outdoor facilities -MB,
By FRANK LANDRY, LEGISLATURE REPORTER
Patio puffing returnsThu, November 11, 2004
Smokers are being allowed back on Brandon's restaurant patios. The Wheat City has repealed its two-year-old anti-puffing bylaw, which prohibited patrons from lighting up on patios as well as all indoor public places.
"Brandon was a leader in bringing forward a bylaw to prohibit smoking in public places," said Dave Baxter, president of the Brandon Chamber of Commerce.
"It just shows the city backing off slightly in order for there to be consistency among restaurants and bars across the province."
Brandon repealed its smoking bylaw Nov. 1. It was the first city in Manitoba to introduce a puffing ban.
The Manitoba-wide smoking ban still outlaws smoking in most enclosed public and work places across the province, including those in Brandon.
The provincial legislation does not prohibit puffing on patios.
Baxter said the change is good for Brandon businesses which, in the spring, would have lost customers to restaurants just outside the city who were free to allow smoking on their patios.
"At the end of the day, the Brandon chamber supports this," Baxter said.
Brandon Mayor Dave Burgess did not respond yesterday to an interview request.
Ray Louie, chairman of the Manitoba Restaurant Association, said Brandon is doing the reasonable thing. He said it's easier to have one smoking policy for the entire province.
"To have separate jurisdiction put out different legislation doesn't make much sense," Louie said.
REVERT TO PROVINCIAL LAW
"The only fair thing to do is revert back to the provincial law."
Winnipeg has not repealed it's smoking bylaw.
Jim Baker, president of the Manitoba Hotel Association, said it wouldn't make much of a difference because Winnipeg's bylaw is similar to the province's crackdown, which kicked in Oct. 1.
The only difference is that the provincial legislation more clearly defines what is a patio, Baker said.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/WinnipegSun/News/2004/11/11/709286.html
CPA: Staff support smoking rooms in psychiatric units
Staff say they feel safer and save time when patients can smoke on-site
By David Hodges
MONTREAL – More research is needed to determine if in-hospital smoking rooms are of any benefit to psychiatric patients, say Calgary researchers.
Although their retrospective chart review found no significant differences in the number of behavioural disturbances among psychiatric inpatients when the room was introduced after a hospital-wide smoking ban was imposed, a survey of psychiatric staff showed they felt safer after the room was available.
The staff also reported that in-patients were more likely to spend less time discussing cigarette smoking and more time presenting psychiatric complaints, and were more likely to use off-unit privileges based on appropriate psychiatric status rather than their need to smoke.
"The survey points to the fact that the staff find the smoking room to be very helpful. And that data that we have from the chart review shows decreasing trends in terms of behavioural interventions, but it doesn't give us any statistically significant results—and that may partially be numbers. So it's difficult to say conclusively whether it makes an objective difference or not," said Dr. Karen Kerfoot, a resident in the department of psychiatry at the University of Calgary who presented the findings at the Canadian Psychiatric Association meeting here. "At this point, I would say that we need to do more research to determine that."
It was a few months after the Calgary Health Region instituted a property-wide ban on cigarette smoking that a smoking room was opened in a psychiatric inpatient unit at the Foothills Medical Centre.
Dr. Kerfoot and colleagues did a randomly-selected retrospective chart review of 90 inpatient admissions at that unit for three months prior to the opening of the smoking room and in another 90 patient for the same three-month period one year later. The two groups were compared for the incidence of physical and/or verbal aggression and other types of disruptive patient behaviour (security involvement, aggression toward property, locked room use, higher observation and restraint). Also gathered were psychiatrist and nursing staff perceptions of the smoking room and its perceived impact on patient care.
The results of the chart review showed the total number of patients certified did not differ significantly between the two time periods observed. As well, there were no significant differences in disruptive patient behaviour.
Only non-significant decreasing trends, calculated as the average number of incidents per admission, were found for verbal aggression (1.21 pre vs. 0.57 post), aggression towards property (0.25 pre vs. 0.18 post), aggression toward people (0.2 pre vs. 0.09 post) and locked room use (0.25 pre vs. 0.14 post). There was a non-significant increase in the need to keep patients under observation.
The results of the survey showed that 86.5% of the staff supported the smoking room, and more than 80% reported feeling safer on the unit. In addition, staff reported spending more time on patients' psychiatric issues, less time discussing cigarette smoking and more time building rapport.
Significant differences reported by the staff included a decrease in the minutes spent discussing cigarette smoking (21.8 pre vs. 5.7 post), giving patients off-unit privileges purely for the purpose of smoking (25.2 pre vs. 3.3 post) and giving patients off-unit privileges in order to smoke (20.6 pre vs. 5.9 post).
Less time was spent discussing the use of nicotine replacement and other smoking cessation aids when the in-hospital smoking room was available.
Dr. Kerfoot suggested that if a smoking room is to be used in psychiatric in-hospital units, this should be balanced by greater use of appropriately timed smoking cessation interventions.
Council hears of rising costs- Kingston, ON
By Derek Baldwin Local News - Thursday, November 11, 2004 @ 07:00
On Day Five of budget talks, city council heard from the last of agencies and boards it funds wholly, or in part.
And in two of the three cases last night, council was informed the groups’ 2005 budget costs are spiralling upward.
City police and the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority confirmed each of their budgets were beyond a 2.5-per-cent spending cap asked for by Mayor Harvey Rosen and senior staff.
The Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Health Unit told council it’s simply too early to say whether it will be able to stay within the cap because it won’t begin budget talks until late January.
City police officials took great pains to walk council through a 5.68-per-cent budget increase which calls for $1.08 million more next year than in 2004.
That increase is $605,932 over the 2.5-per-cent spending cap.
Police board chairwoman Carol Allison-Burra confirmed that the board could not bring itself to cut back expenses to remain within the 2.5-per-cent cap.
And she told council that by submitting a budget asking for more money, the police board was not “crying poor ... nor are we here to fearmonger.”
Allison-Burra said the police service needed to “hire eight sworn officers” to handle a litany of policing demands.
More officers, she said, are needed to ensure the safety of citizens.Police Chief Bill Closs admitted that “really not much has changed [in the police budget] since we met here Oct. 6.”
He thanked city staff and council for understanding the police board and administration’s funding dilemma: “It’s never an easy thing to divvy up taxpayers’ money when there are many agencies in the city.”
Closs said the biggest challenge facing the police is the $18.8-million cost for the salaries of roughly 175 officers in 2005.
The officers are critical to meeting demands by citizen demands for police response, he said.
“By the end of 2004, we will have made half-a-million contacts with citizens of Kingston and tourists, Closs said. “We’re not in the business of saying ‘no.’ When people can’t get help, they come to us 24 hours a day.”
Closs said council must also take into consideration the fact that investigations are expensive. A recent accident in the city cost his department $3,290 and 94 hours to clear.
Providing a police presence for the Queen’s Homecoming celebrations cost the department $33,985 and 971 hours in staffing, Closs said.
He also referred to a police investigation which required 5,925 hours of police staff time at a cost of $207,375.
“That’s why we have so much invested in salaries,” Closs told council.
He noted the police board could, if forced, cut a further $128,200 from the budget overrun by reducing rural patrols and deferring the hiring of two officers until 2006.
Deputy police chief Bob Napier outlined the capital needs of Kingston police for 2005.
One of the biggest challenges, he said, is funding the proposed police headquarters on Division Street, the estimated cost of which has jumped from $23 million to $33.4 million.
Councillor Floyd Patterson asked “how did we go up $10 million?”
Napier said among the many reasons is the need for an additional $700,000 to make the building more efficient.
But, he said, “the biggest cost factor has been the passage of time.”
Construction costs have skyrocketed since the original estimates were made three years ago, Napier said.
On another front, council heard it may have to pay out more next year as part of its obligation to fund the Cataraqui conservation authority.
Stephen Knechtel, general manager, said the authority met yesterday for its first budget meeting and said it may ask for 11 per cent more than in 2004 to cover everything from inflation and aging infrastructure to increased operations costs and measures necessary to meet new provincial regulations.
Knechtel said that would push the $16,000 or 2.5-per-cent increase asked for by the city to $56,000, upping the city contribution to the authority to roughly $700,000 next year.
Medical officer of health Dr. Ian Gemmill said the Kingston Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Health Unit couldn’t say whether his agency will meet a $72,000 spending cap asked for by the city.
If the cap was met, it would limit Kingston’s obligation to give the health unit $2.9 million. The health unit’s budget is roughly $8.7 million this year.
Gemmill said the health unit is waiting for provincial changes to health unit funding.
Queen’s Park, he said, is boosting health unit funding from 50 per cent to 55 per cent with the remainder to be funded by member municipalities.
“How that is to be implemented and how much of that is enrichment of public health and for municipalities, we don’t know yet. We have to wait for that information before we can say we’re going to meet the 2.5 per cent guideline of the municipality,” Gemmill said.
Armed with the latest information from agencies last night, council moved into final deliberations to seek approval for Kingston’s proposed $330-million 2005 budget, including operations and capital expenditures.
Results of late talks weren’t available at press time.
If council didn’t reach final approval of the budget, talks were expected to resume at 6 p.m. today in chambers.http://www.thewhig.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=86227&catname=Local+News
Smoking rooms not up to snuff
Roy Green, Staff Writer Nov 11, 2004More than 75 per cent of the costly designated smoking areas in restaurants, bars, taverns and bingo halls in York Region failed to meet minimum standards, according to a report from the region's health services department.
The report comes as Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman announced he will introduce legislation this month that will effectively ban smoking anywhere other than in private homes.
There are 102 premises with the completely enclosed and separately ventilated smoking rooms, some of which cost as much as $350,000 to build, but the report says most of them fail to meet bylaw requirements due to poor maintenance, insufficient air supply and exhaust, overcrowding or failing to keep the door closed, according to tobacco control officer Dave Harrison.
"They work when they're first built, but we go back a year later and we find doors are left open, the filters haven't been cleaned or they're not getting the amount of air they're supposed to get," Mr. Harrison said. "The bottom line is they're not meeting the criteria."
Owners are issued a $255 ticket for the first violation, but that could accelerate to a court summons and fine as high as $5,000 for repeated offences.
The number of failures in the smoking areas is not surprising to Markham Regional Councillor Jack Heath, a member of the health committee.
"It's a surprise that even 25 per cent of these DSR's worked," Mr. Heath said this week. "All the way through the processing of this bylaw, there's been no proof you could actually set up (a DSR) that worked all the time."
The region and other GTA municipalities have been asking the province to introduce legislation to shut down designated smoking rooms by 2007.
Mr. Heath believes a total ban is necessary.
"A level playing field is important," he said. "I don't think it's fair some owners can have DSRs, while others don't have the space or financial resources to do it."
Bill Lunney, who recently shut down his Newmarket tavern, Fairlane's, partly because of the bylaw, agrees with Mr. Heath.
"If there was no smoking anywhere, I wouldn't have a problem with that," Mr. Lunney said. "As it is, I lost customers to places that have the smoking rooms even though the ventilation in those places never works properly."
The report provides the first update since the the third phase of the region's anti-smoking bylaw was introduced in June. That phase added all licenced areas to earlier anti-smoking bans in workplaces, restaurants and other public areas.
http://www.yorkregion.com/yr/newscentre/georginaadvocate/story/2336924p-2706453c.html
City and Legion meet - Toronto, ON
Thursday November 11th 2004
7:46 Meeting of Legion Halls convened last night to discuss smoking ban. David Adamson, Chair of Provincial Command Royal Cdn Legion. He attended a meeting at Legion Branch 527 organized by City Councillor Frances Nunziata and 50 other Toronto Legion Branch executives. It was decided that she will ask Howard Moscoe to withdraw his motion
http://www.mojoradio.com/station/john_oakley.cfm
Anti smoking ban Fallout- video ON
Thunder bay, Ontario council is realizing, after two bar closed and talk of three more about to close, that there should be compromise.
http://tbtv.dayport.com/launcher/4071/?tf=tbtviewer_2004.tpl
STANDOFF IN N.B. PRISON ENDS: A standoff involving inmates at the Atlantic Institution in Renous, N.B., is over. One inmate was stabbed during the incident but his injuries are not life-threatening. On Tuesday night, 16 inmates refused to return to their cells. On Wednesday afternoon the warden read them the riot act and threatened to send in the prison's emergency response team. The dispute involved access to cigarettes and cable television. CANADA.COM
http://novanewsnet.ukings.ns.ca/nova_news_3589_20041104.html
Do You Want To Kick Butt On a Smokin' New Reality Show? - Casting call
We want 5 nicotine addicted 20-35 year olds with the urge to kick the habit to be part of a new reallity serieson the Knowledge network.
Shooting dates Jan 19 - may15, 2005
Burnaby, BC - Knowledge Network's new reality TV series called Kick Butt is smokin'. This documentary series will follow five quitters (current smokers who want to give up the nasty habit of smoking) that are ready to fight the urge to light up in front of the camera. This could be your chance to Kick Butt, once and for all.
Throughout the series, viewers will meet the participant's friends and families and find out just what they think about smoking. The show provides the cast with a resident psychologist who is a smoking cessation specialist as well as other medical experts who will weigh in on each participant's progress. Watch as each of the five go through various stages of withdrawal, and celebrate with them as they reach each smokeless milestone. As key targets are reached, contests and incentives will be provided to keep the participants motivated to reach their ultimate goal of quitting smoking for good.
Kick Butt is funded in part by Health Canada, the British Columbia Lung Association and the Kaiser Foundation.
Knowledge Network's mission is to deliver high quality, relevant, credible, and compelling educational programming accessible to all British Columbians via TV and the Web. As BC's educational broadcaster, they also offer access to targeted audiences for educators who provide the information British Columbians need to adapt to their changing world.
Discount cigarettes a reasonable concession, says N.S. doc
Though discount cigarettes are becoming a growing option for smokers not willing and able to pay for their old brands, a Nova Scotia doctor says it's not neccesarily a problem.
There's a lot of different ways to feed a tobacco addiction these days. You can buy a pack of twenty cigarettes, or twenty-five. You can choose from King-size, light, menthol, un-filtered. You can roll your own, or chew it.
And since tobacco taxes have increased over the past few years, you can pick from a variety of discount brands, made with lower-grade tobacco.
Two weeks ago, the chief executive of Rothmans Inc., one of the Canada's largest tobacco companies, predicted that as taxes on cigarettes increased smokers would turn to discount brands. One physician in Nova Scotia says the trend toward discount cigarettes isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Dr. Gerry Brosky, a family physician and chair of Working Group on Tobacco Issues, a Nova Scotia-based anti-smoking iniative, says taxing cigarettes is an ethical dilemma because many people addicted to tobacco are low-income earners. He says discount cigarettes are a reasonable concession to make when you keep that in mind. &qng." Brosky says that taxation will work only if linked with legislation to make smoking "not normal, not acceptable."
Brad Kenny, a Dartmouth native, says he's never had to sacrifice anything else for cigarettes, but admits to being careful with his money so he can still afford to smoke. He smoked DeMaurier Light for seven years, and says he switched when his brand started costing over ten bucks a pack. " I switched to Peter Jackson's in June. None of my friends smoke their old brands anymore. We all had to switch."
Kenny says he didn't consider quitting when taxes went up, but he wants to quit now. "The cigarettes I smoke are disgusting. I used to smoke because I loved it," he says. "Now I just smoke because I'm addicted."
"More is better"
Catherine Cole, Public Awareness Coordinator for the Coalition for a Smoke-Free Nova Scotia, says not to feel sorry for tobacco companies like Rothman's, who reported lower profits after last spring's tax increase. "The tobacco industry will always make money. They sell discount cigarettes but they'll sell more, because they're cheaper."
The tobacco companies weren't the only one worrying about a dip in income due to high cigarette taxes. Diana Elcheikh owns a corner store in Halifax. She says she's noticed most of her regular customers have switched from premium brands, like DeMaurier and Players, to discount cigarettes, such as Number 7, Peter Jackson's, or Canadian Classics.
Elcheikh says she makes less money on the cheaper packs, but it all evens out: "Even though it's nine cents less profit per pack, people buy more of the cheaper cigarettes. So we make more profit, eventually. More is better." She says that cigarettes, along with lotto, are what keep her in business. "Without cigarettes, there'd be no corner stores."
Taxes still have desired effect
Brosky says that even though it seems the tobacco companies found a loophole in the tax legislation, the problem really lays with where the tax money is going. "Nova Scotia makes around $130 million a year from cigarette tax. They spend about 1 per cent of that on tobacco programming." Brosky says that taxation will work only if linked with legislation to make smoking "not normal, not acceptable."
While discount cigarettes do give smokers another option rather than paying up, but it seems the high taxes are still having the desired effect. Kenny says he wouldn't be quitting if his favorite brand was still affordable.
"Put it this way," he says. "If DeMaurier was still eight dollars a pack, I wouldn't be thinking about quitting."
http://novanewsnet.ukings.ns.ca/nova_news_3588_3269.html
Competition Bureau has yet to rule on cigarette labelling allegations -CA
After 17 months, health experts await answer
By GLORIA GALLOWAY Friday, November 12, 2004 - Page A4
A high-profile complaint lodged 17 months ago with the federal Competition Bureau that alleges deceptive practices on the part of tobacco manufacturers has yet to be resolved, and the complainants want an explanation for the delay.The Competition Bureau's service standards dictate that anyone making a complaint, even a complex one, should receive a written response within 10 weeks. Most complaints are turned around in six weeks. So the medical officers of health from across Canada and other health experts who initiated the action are concerned that the allegations contained in their submission have been deemed too sensitive to handle.
The complaint, alleging that the words "light" and "mild" on cigarette packaging are misleading because light cigarettes are just as dangerous as the regular brands, was announced with much fanfare in June, 2003. But the 11 signatories have heard almost nothing from the bureau in the interim.
"I'm incensed," said Rob Cushman, chief medical officer of health for Ottawa, who is among those who signed the letter of complaint.
It has taken "far too long" to get a response from the Competition Bureau, Dr. Cushman said, adding that the time taken to handle the complaint apparently has far exceeded normal practice. "This is a public-health issue that's leading to sickness and death every day that it continues."
In March, Dr. Cushman and Mary Jane Ashley, a professor of public health at the University of Toronto, wrote to Competition commissioner Sheridan Scott asking what progress had been made.
"We are writing to you to draw your attention to the gravity of harm to the public health that attends delays in addressing the deception that our complaint reveals," they said in their letter.
The bureau responded with a two-paragraph reply saying that the inquiry is continuing and that bureau officials met with several parties and obtained a significant volume of information.
But 10 months later, the complainants said, they have had no further response, despite guidelines from the bureau that say complex complaints will be handled within 10 weeks or the parties will be provided, in writing, with an explanation and an estimated date of completion.
When asked to offer reasons for the delay, Maureen McGrath, a bureau spokeswoman, said "we are still reviewing the matter." She refused to speculate on the holdup.
"I'm concerned that the Competition Bureau may, in fact, have been told that other parts of government may be planning to do something to address this issue," said Garfield Mahood, executive director of the Non-Smokers' Rights Association and a signatory to the complaint.
But that is a problem for two reasons, he said. First, since former federal health minister Allan Rock tried to tackle the light and mild cigarette issue in 2001, the federal government has taken little action on the file. Second, the Competition Bureau is supposed to be independent of the political process.
"The political process has clearly shown to be negligent, to be failing," Mr. Mahood said. "If this body is attempting to shirk its responsibilities because of the possibility the government might act, that would be another example of negligence."
New treatment targets smokers with panic disorder
Posted on Friday, November 12, 2004 @ 10:30 AM PST by bjs
Not everyone who tries to quit the habit on the Great American Smokeout Nov. 18 will have the same odds of success. The 2.4 million Americans who have panic disorders not only smoke at a disproportionately high rate--about 40 percent vs. 24 percent of the general population--they also have a harder time quitting and relapse more often. Another 5 percent of American smokers--2.4 million more people--may develop panic-related symptoms or even panic disorder when they try to quit. Interventions such as nicotine replacement therapy and counseling don't address their symptoms, but new programs pioneered by University of Vermont psychologists are offering hope.
>From University of Vermont:
Burning anxiety: New treatment targets smokers with panic disorder
Not everyone who tries to quit the habit on the Great American Smokeout Nov. 18 will have the same odds of success. The 2.4 million Americans who have panic disorders not only smoke at a disproportionately high rate--about 40 percent vs. 24 percent of the general population--they also have a harder time quitting and relapse more often. Another 5 percent of American smokers--2.4 million more people--may develop panic-related symptoms or even panic disorder when they try to quit. Interventions such as nicotine replacement therapy and counseling don't address their symptoms, but new programs pioneered by University of Vermont psychologists are offering hope.
Research suggesting that smoking often precedes panic disorder and may increase risks of developing the malady led Michael Zvolensky, assistant professor of psychology and director of UVM's Anxiety Health and Research Laboratory, to pioneer new prevention and treatment programs now being duplicated at other institutions. Participants learn to deal with their panic-related symptoms through gradual exposure, coping strategies and mentally correcting illogical fears.
''Once conditioning has happened, you can't undo it,'' says Zvolensky, who initiated the programs. ''We don't try to remove panic-related symptoms, but we offer an alternative model to teach people to tolerate and/or alleviate symptoms.''
Smokers with panic disorder ''appear to be super-motivated to quit,'' says Zvolensky, ''but they also seem to have a harder time quitting, and are more likely to relapse.'' That's not hopeful news, considering that more than 90 percent of smokers in the general population who quit on their own and up to 85 percent who attend traditional treatment programs relapse within a year.
Zvolensky believes that mental health professionals have largely ignored cigarette smoking. Little is understood of how smoking relates to anxiety disorders other than panic disorder, but studies indicate that a history of heavy smoking may increase the chance of developing a variety of emotional disorders.
As a result of his research in the United States and Russia, Zvolensky and his team are currently evaluating a brief prevention program and a 16-week treatment protocol that targets smokers who are vulnerable to panic psychology. By inducing panic symptoms through such methods as having patients hyperventilate or breathe CO2-enriched air, smokers learn to tolerate panic symptoms and react differently to those sensations. For instance, they learn to recognize that a racing heartbeat isn't the onset of a heart attack.
Citizens of Nova Scotia are trying out Zvolensky's treatment model through a collaboration with the Psychiatry Department at Dalhousie University, and laboratories elsewhere are duplicating his studies, which have been documented in more than 30 articles in peer-reviewed journals such as Addictive Behaviors and Clinical Psychology Review. Although long-term data are not yet available, Zvolensky hopes his research will lead to targeted, more effective methods to help people with panic sensitivities quit the habit -- and in some cases, help them to avoid developing the disorder in the first place.
http://www.scienceblog.com/community/article4622.html
Canada Taking Too Long to Resolve Tobacco Ad Case, Globe Says
Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Canadian officials are taking longer than usual to tackle complaints that the tobacco industry is misleading consumers by using the words ``light'' and ``mild'' on cigarette packaging, the Globe and Mail reported.
Eleven doctors and health experts who filed complaints 17 months ago to the Competition Bureau, which regulates advertising, are asking why the case is taking so long to resolve, the newspaper said.
The federal body is supposed to respond within 10 weeks and most complaints are ``turned around'' within six weeks, the Globe said.
The Competition Bureau hasn't responded to the complainants, who said the issue may be too ``sensitive'' for the agency to handle, the newspaper said. A spokeswoman for the agency told the Globe, ``we are still reviewing the matter.''
(Globe and Mail, 11-12, A4)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000082&sid=axj827IkImkg&refer=canada
Mixed reviews for smoking ban
By Abigail Cukier News Staff
Provincial ban a breath of fresh air to some local Legion membersWhile some members will be upset by a smoking ban in the local Royal Canadian Legion hall, the spokesperson for the Battlefield branch, believes many others would be pleased by the change.
"A lot of people coming into the office have been telling me they're not going because of the smoking. They'll come to the fish fry and come to pay their dues, but don't come to the Legion because of the smoking," said Bob Brown.
He said some members have health concerns, including one man with a lung condition, who can't handle the smoke.
The local Legion has about 810 members, and while Mr. Brown said a smoking ban might keep some members away at first, he believes they would return. He also thinks a smoking ban may bring back members who are staying away because of smoke.
Earlier this month, Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman announced a province-wide smoking ban to be presented to the legislature later this year, which would include private clubs whose premises are open to the public.
In addition to providing veterans the opportunity for comradeship and social activities, the Royal Canadian Legion contributes hundreds of thousands of hours of volunteer time, assisting veterans, running youth and athletic programs and sponsoring seniors' housing projects. But legion membership is declining. To replenish their ranks, the legion opened membership in 2000 to Canadians not associated with the military. Some feel current and proposed smoking bans will drive members away.
In Hamilton, since June 1, smoking has been prohibited in bars, nightclubs, billiard and bingo halls, slot machine facilities and gaming centres, except in designated smoking rooms. All public places and workplaces in Hamilton will become smoke free by June 1, 2008, and designated smoking rooms will no longer be permitted. Private clubs have not been included in any proposed provincial legislation - until now.
A bartender at the Legion's Westborough branch in Ottawa, said she notices a strong decrease in bar sales. That municipality has been smoke-free in private clubs since June 1. While a few non-smokers have returned, business is down about $300 day, she said.
Mike Wood, an employee at the Battlefield Branch, is not worried about a possible smoking ban. Looking around the branch's club room at 2:30 in the afternoon Tuesday, Mr. Wood saw about five smokers out of 50 patrons. He also pointed out the branch already has a non-smoking upstairs room.
Smoke cops strike Treherne hotelier vows to fight 'fascist law'-MB
Sat, November 13, 2004By DAVID SCHMEICHEL, STAFF REPORTER
No more messin' around. The province made good on its promise to crack down on cigarette scofflaws yesterday, charging a Treherne hotel owner with ignoring the new smoking ban.
In recent months, Creekside Hideaway owner Robert Jenkinson has become the unofficial poster boy for those opposed to the new legislation, pledging repeatedly to continue to allow patrons to light up in his lounge.
Yesterday, Jenkinson became the first business owner cited under the province's new Non-Smokers Health Protection Act, which came into effect Oct. 1. Jenkinson was charged with six offences under the act and his corporation another seven.
Jenkinson said he plans to fight the charges in court.
"Definitely ... we have every intention of getting this fascist law thrown out," he said yesterday. "Whatever happened to our charter of rights?"
The charges against Jenkinson include providing ashtrays to patrons, failing to display no-smoking signage, and allowing patrons to smoke indoors, said Manitoba Health spokesman Jim Drew.
Drew said the province doesn't want to appear heavy-handed but was left with little choice in the case of Jenkinson, who was issued a written warning on Oct. 5.
The province has already said it won't seek out those who ignore the ban but will act when complaints are lodged.
"Mr. Jenkinson had an opportunity to comply," Drew said, noting the Creekside Hideaway has been the subject of several public complaints.
SURPRISED
Fines for first-time corporation offenders range from $500 to $3,000, while individual first-time offenders face charges of $100 to $500.
Jenkinson said the legislation infringes on his rights, and estimates he'd lose up to 30% of his revenue if he complied.
"None of these people have worked a day in the restaurant business, yet they can dictate what we can and can't do," he said. "They (the province) want to sell cigarettes but they won't let us smoke them inside."
Jenkinson also said he was somewhat surprised by yesterday's events and feels the province is making an example of him.
"I didn't think the government would bully me with so many charges, he said. "Why not just one charge, why 13?"
Jenkinson, who is scheduled to appear in court in Portage la Prairie on Nov. 29, said he plans to comment more on the charges early next week. Until then, customers are still welcome to spark up on his premises.
"For sure," he said. "I'm not guilty until the courts decide I am."
Investigations into other business owners suspected of flaunting the ban are still ongoing, Drew said yesterday.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/WinnipegSun/News/2004/11/13/712247.html
Butt ban faces test in court -MB
First charges laid
Saturday, November 13th, 2004
By David Kuxhaus
THE first charges under the province's new anti-smoking law were laid yesterday, setting the stage for a court challenge to the controversial legislation. At the centre of the fight is a self-described struggling small-town bar owner who says he's anxious to take on the provincial government. After weeks of warnings and threats, provincial health inspectors finally swooped down yesterday on the Creekside Hideaway Motel in tiny Treherne, laying 13 charges against Robert Jenkinson.
The 36-year-old Jenkinson has openly thumbed his nose at the province ever since the law came into effect about six weeks ago, almost daring inspectors to charge him.
Yesterday, he remained defiant.
"I hope the courts can make amends for what this fascist NDP government has done," said Jenkinson.
He said rural folks have taken plenty of hits this year, from the mad cow crisis to, more recently, increased duties on hogs.
He said they shouldn't now be forced to go outside in sub-zero weather to enjoy a smoke.
Jenkinson is scheduled to appear in a Portage la Prairie court Nov. 29.
Under the law, which bans smoking in public places, individuals can be fined up to $500 and businesses a maximum of $3,000.
Jenkinson said he already has a lawyer, but wouldn't say who it is. He said he will issue a statement next week.
Jenkinson said he's received plenty of support for his stand, including calls from across Canada and the United States, and he's hoping that some of those supporters may help him out with his legal fees. He's even thinking of holding a fundraiser.
"This is all about freedom of choice," said Jenkinson.
Last night, at least one other bar owner seemed eager to join the fight.
"Maybe we should all get together and go after them (the provincial government)," said Jamie Betle, who for the last 20 years has operated the Spruce Woods Pizza and Slider's Lounge in Carberry.
"This is just wrong."
When the smoking ban came into effect, Betle dumped over 100 ashtrays in Healthy Living Minister Jim Rondeau's office in protest.
Since then, he says, his bottom line has been sinking.
Betle said profits for October are down about 24 per cent compared to previous years. He said instead of playing VLTs or pool, customers are huddled outside his back door, smoking.
If the trend continues, Betle said, his overall take will be down $170,000 over a 12-month period.
"That's how much this government is taking out of my pocket," Betle said.
He said he has already cut back on the hours for some staff and may ultimately have to lay some off.
Jenkinson estimates that if he were to prohibit smoking, it would cost him at least 30 per cent of his business.
"I can't afford that," he said. "I'm not like the government who can ban smoking in their casinos and afford to lose millions of dollars."
Jenkinson grew up in Treherne, a community of about 800 people, located about 100 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg.
Less than two years ago, he opened up the Creekside Hideaway Motel.
The motel's restaurant seats 36, the lounge 150 and the banquet hall 110.
Last night, Jenkinson said there were about half a dozen people puffing away in the lounge.
He said he's always tried to give his customers a choice when it comes to smoking.
"When you come in through the front door, you can turn left and go into the restaurant, where there's no smoking, or turn right and go into the lounge where you can smoke," Jenkinson said.
It is up to whomever is renting the banquet hall to determine whether smoking will be allowed.
Jenkinson said he wishes the province would allow him to choose how he wants to run his business.
The provincial government said it brought in the law to protect employees from second-hand smoke.
But Jenkinson said he's spent about $90,000 on a ventilation system, which he maintains keeps the air clean.
Moreover, he can't figure out why native reserves are exempt from the ban. Some First Nations have already said they're hoping to lure smokers to their gaming and bingo halls.
"We should all be equal under the law," said Jenkinson.
Officials with the province could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The NDP has said it is not enforcing the ban on First Nations because it doesn't have clear jurisdiction there and isn't willing to risk a court challenge on the issue.
Wiinnepegfreepress.com
Retreat targets smoking - MB
Nov 14, 2004
The manitoba Lung Association is trying to help younge people develop anti smoking strategies.
Yesterday the associationwrapped up a 3 day retreat for 65 Man. high schhol students, who heard speakers discuss the tactics employed by the tobacco industry to get people to smoke.
"There are people who think that because the province banned smoking in public places that we don't have to worry about that any more, but it's far from it," said Jo anne Douglas, director of the Lung association's Tobacco Reduction Initiatives. "Younge people continue to be targeted by the tobacco industry."Scan of article s sent to me from the Winnipeg free press.
Peanut overdose taught a lesson-MB
Never let something own youBy Laurie Mustard -- Winnipeg SunSun, November 14, 2004
Welcome to Day 1 of Manitoba Addictions Awareness Week.
Maybe the saddest thing about being addicted to something is that you've given up control over your own life.
When something owns you, you do what it tells you.
That's one of the main reasons I gave up smoking nearly two packs a day back in 1975.
The health risks were a consideration, but being owned by something really got my goat.
Like most smokers in denial, I used to say I could quit any time, then I tried a few times and found out I couldn't.
Through that two- or three-year quitting period, revelations concerning the tobacco companies kept creeping into public awareness. Despite the fact they knew their product to be a killer, I learned they had no problem in encouraging me to buy it and destroy my health. That they had no conscience, no remorse about causing millions of deaths worldwide.
That's when they became "the enemy," which helped a lot with my motivation to quit.
Then I got personal with the smokes. Having justifiably vilified their source, I resented having them control me. If you can't say no to something or someone, it controls you, and that's no way to live this wonderful life.
However, addicted as I was -- cigarettes were to me as implants are to Pamela Anderson -- I knew it was really going to be a challenge to give them up.
How to quit? A memory of chocolate-covered peanuts showed me the way.
On a long haul trip with my brother back when he drove big rigs, we discovered a big box of chocolate-covered peanuts had broken open in the trailer. It was like winning a lottery.
We took that box into the cab, set it on the doghouse, and for three days ate endless handfuls of chocolate-covered peanuts. Mmmmm, were they good.
The fun waned about the time we started going to the bathroom a lot, and by the time it all ended, we had no desire ever to consume, or even see, a chocolate-coated peanut again.
I wondered if the same approach might work with cigarettes. I decided to try smoking every waking moment for a couple of weeks or as long as it took to get sick of cigarettes, then swear off them for good. It worked!
Self-inflicted revulsion
For about three weeks, I lit one cigarette off another, sucked each drag to my toes, even lit up if I had to get up in the night to visit the little boys' room. I always did that, anyway -- I really loved smoking.
Finally, at the point where I had lost all desire to puff, and hating the furry feeling in my mouth, I chucked the last empty pack away.
My self-inflicted revulsion lasted a good two weeks, by which time I had moved away from the addictive aspects (physical and mental) enough to be able to leave it behind ... but only because I really wanted to.
Making that decision is everything.
Good luck with booting whatever "owns" you. Gambling, drugs, alcohol, food, whatever. Self-ownership, freedom, is a wonderful thing.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/Winnipeg/Laurie_Mustard/2004/11/14/713566.html
Federal agency should nurture 'wellness,' say doctors
Sunday, November 14th, 2004
By Mark Kennedy
OTTAWA -- Canada's new public health agency might be so focused on preparing for the next deadly outbreak of an infectious disease that it overlooks spearheading critical health promotion initiatives to also keep Canadians safe, the country's medical profession has warned. The doctors say that unless the federal agency, which has its headquarters in Winnipeg, also plays a leading role in "wellness" programs that battle other constant health threats -- such as tobacco, obesity, and mental illness -- Canadians will be ill-served. The concern is raised in a report released by the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), which represents 58,000 physicians.
"Greater attention to public health is absolutely the right thing for government to do, but the new agency must be a complete organism that fully balances health protection and health promotion," says the report.
"Improving a nation's health takes years, even generations, but political realities dictate a fixation on short-term payoffs. As a result, problems in access to or supply of health care, or tainted water and outbreaks of acute infectious disease draw political attention and energy while policies with longer-term horizons are often neglected because they do not produce immediate political capital.
"Longer-term, lower-profile programs, which most health-promotion initiatives are, need a political champion to get concepts and programs established, but there is high turnover in health ministers and it can take a number of electoral cycles for ideas to be fully accepted."
CMA president Dr. Albert Schumacher said in an interview the federal government has taken great strides forward in recently creating the Public Health Agency of Canada and by appointing its first chief public health officer, Dr. David Butler-Jones. As well, for the first time, a secretary of state for public health, Carolyn Bennett, was added to cabinet.
But Schumacher warned there are still shortcomings: There aren't enough people -- such as doctors, nurses and deputy public health officers -- in local communities trained to respond to emergencies; and Butler-Jones lacks the legal power to take dramatic action in times of crisis without political permission.
Beyond that, Schumacher says the CMA is worried the public health agency won't be given the funds and clout to expand its work to health promotion.
The government does say the agency's mandate is twofold: respond to emergencies, and prevent "chronic diseases" such as cancer and heart disease. The CMA's report concludes Bennett and Butler-Jones "understand the need" for health promotion but require the support of the public.
Schumacher said governments must finally accept public health promotion can pay off.
"If we want people to exercise, why are we paying GST and provincial tax on our health club membership, and on our bicycles and bicycle helmets?"
Similarly, Schumacher said more children should have easier access to physical activity -- perhaps through after-school programs.
The CMA discussion paper noted it has been 30 years since then-federal health minister Marc Lalonde released a visionary report on health promotion. It galvanized many countries to take action, but many of its recommendations went unheeded in Canada.
The tainted-water outbreaks in Walkerton, Ont. and North Battleford, Sask., as well as the SARS outbreak in southern Ontario, alerted governments to the problem -- leading to the creation of the public health agency.
"While this new focus on public health is overdue and important to building a healthier Canadian society, the crisis-response nature of its creation has a potential downside: it could overshadow the need for a broader health promotion agenda," says the CMA report.
Health Canada chops aboriginal quit-smoking funds
Web Posted | Nov 15 2004 08:32 AM CST
WINNIPEG - Manitoba First Nations are blaming Health Canada for forcing them to cancel programs that would have helped band members quit smoking.Almost 65 per cent of aboriginal Manitobans smoke – one of the highest rates in the world.
Health Canada had approved more than $500,000 for on-reserve tobacco-control programs this year. However, about $300,000 of that money is being redirected by the regional office to pay for other health costs, forcing First Nations to scale back tobacco-reduction programs and lay off staff.
Del Assiniboine, a health advocate with the Southern Chiefs Organization, is disappointed the money won't be spend on desperately needed quit-smoking programs. He says the decision is short-sighted, because Health Canada will have to pay later for many costly health problems related to smoking.
"It does get very frustrating when the government encourages us to make work plans, plans that we're going to do to help our people, and then Manitoba region says, 'no, you can't,'" he says.
Jim Wolfe, who heads the Manitoba region of Health Canada's First Nations branch, says the money was used for more urgent health costs.
Wolfe admits more money for tobacco control would have been useful, but he says the money was used for more urgent health costs.
"Yeah, you could go further, but you have to look at the overall situation with our resources, and we make that decision," he says. "The money goes to pay for things like trips out of the communities, you know, necessary vision and direct health-service kinds of issues, which are a higher priority than more discretionary funding like you would see in the tobacco funding."
Wolfe says a lot can still be done with the money his department will be providing.
http://winnipeg.cbc.ca/regionalnews/caches/mb_smoking20041115.html
Traces of prescription drugs found in tap water
CTV.ca News Staff
Canadians' tap water may contain tiny traces of prescription drugs, a new federal study has found.
A study of water samples taken from locations near 20 drinking water treatment plants in southern Ontario found evidence of nine different drugs. They ranged from the painkiller ibuprofen, cholesterol-lowering drugs and antidepressants, such as Prozac.
The drugs are making it into the water supply because the human body doesn't always absorb all the medication it ingests. Some is excreted as solid waste, and the particles aren't removed in the treatment process.
"It's an element of modern life that tends to unnerve us," said Duncan Ellison of the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association.
The study, conducted by researchers from the National Water Research Institute for the federal government, has yet to be formally published. But it has been submitted to a British journal entitled Water Research and should be published in the new year.
The quantities of drugs involved would be equivalent to a single drop of water in an entire swimming pool.
Those overseeing water quality say tap water is still safe.
Environmentalists counter by saying any quantity of prescription drugs in water is unacceptable, even if the drugs themselves have already been tested for safety.
"They certainly aren't tested in combination," said Angela Rickman of the Sierra Club. "So we're being exposed at any given time to three or four or five or any number of pharmaceuticals and no one knows the effect of that exposure."
There are also questions of the impact on aquatic life, on fetuses and on those who are ill or infirm.
As an example of what can happen, male smallmouth bass in a nicotine-polluted section of the U.S.'s Potomac River have started producing eggs.
Municipal governments, who bear operational responsibility for treating drinking water, say they are working on what is a complicated problem.
"There are research activities going on now to determine what we can do about it," Ellison said.
Experts say another way to solve this problem is to design better drugs that are fully metabolized by the body.
However, CTV's Paula Newton said designing such drugs is likely years away, as are any studies to determine whether prescription drug traces in treated drinking water are a health hazard.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1100486012670_22?hub=Health
Smoking ban snuffing out Canadian business profits
By CHRIS SEBASTIAN
Times HeraldCasino visitors normally don't have far to walk before they see someone with a slot-machine handle in one hand and a cigarette in the other.
Today, it's those smokers who have to walk to enjoy their habit at the Point Edward Charity Casino, and the managers say their business is hurting because of it.
Since the Lambton County no-smoking law that prohibits lighting up in any public building started Sept. 4, many businesses still are figuring out the ban's effects.
Casino spokesman Jim Cronin said he will know better at the end of December, when the casino's third financial quarter draws to a close, how the smoke-free atmosphere has affected the casino.
"We can certainly say that we anticipate there will be an impact both on visitation and revenue," Cronin said. "People still come in and play the slots; however, they may play for a shorter period of time."
Although businesses may be hurting, Lambton County officials said they were concerned about health when they enacted the smoking ban. They have said nonsmokers have the right to breathe smoke-free air.
The casino has a temporary outdoor smoking patio and next week will begin construction on a permanent one. About 30 locations have received permission from the Lambton County building department for patios.
The patios, however, won't provide a comfortable alternative as the weather gets colder. Some restaurants and bars plan to build enclosed patios to combat the cold.
While restaurants and bars have felt the greatest financial pain, they aren't alone. Some gas stations said their cigarette sales have declined.
Bowling alleys are experiencing problems, but not from a lack of business. Shirley Wickens, owner of Hi-Way Bowl in Sarnia, said she'll have higher heating bills this winter because people go outside to smoke.
"They are in and out, in and out," Wickens said. "We just don't like the thoughts of this door being open all the time in the winter."
The ban has hit some businesses hard. Thirsty's Roadhouse in Sarnia is for sale, owner Terri Kavanaugh said.
Sales dropped 20% in September and 25% in October, compared to the same time last year.
"I was optimistic at first, but as it turns out, nonsmokers are just not supporting my kind of business," she said.
Lambton County bars have been smoke free since Sept. 4.
Originally published Monday, November 15, 2004
http://www.thetimesherald.com/news/stories/20041115/localnews/1592367.html
Everyone had a BLAST -MB
Hinton hosted annual BLAST conference Nov. 5-7By Tanya Zarney Monday November 15, 2004.
Hinton Parklander — The Hinton Building Leadership for Action in Schools Today (BLAST) team from Harry Collinge high school, along with 12 other BLAST teams, met at the Hinton Environmental Training Centre for the annual North BLAST Conference.
During the Nov. 5-7 weekend, students and coaches took part in team building sessions, interactive presentations and educational workshops related to tobacco use.
The students also participated in project planning, sports, games and other fun activities.
“The conference was a 10, the enthusiasm alone was phenomenal and with the coaches as well,” said Hinton AADAC tobacco reduction counsellor, John Heffernan. “A lot of kids said that they would go back to work with their peers and help with programs to work with the schools.”
Along with HCHS the teams who participated were from Percy Baxter school, Prairie River Peer Support, Niton Central school, Jasper Jr/Sr High school, Pine Groves Middle school, Boyle school, Stettler Y.A.S Group, Mirror BLAST, Alix BLAST, Mayerthorpe high school and Holy Redeemer high school.
Presentations were made by Heffernan, Trina Bandi, health educator, Sandy Gill, dental hygienist, Jocelyne Lamoureux, respiratory therapist, Donita Large, tobacco cessation coordinator and John Dunn, health promotions facilitator.
“They were good presentations, if any smoker saw them they’d be scared out of their minds,” said Jackie Hall, first year HCHS BLAST team member.
Rachelle Andre said that the groups main focus so far is to protect those that can’t protect themselves, hence second-hand smoke.
“We’re not just telling people that they don’t have a right to smoke - it’s about the people that can’t protect themselves, the victims,” Hall said.
Heffernan said that all of the kids made some really strong bonds together. He also pointed out that a lot of kids think that they are immune to complications from tobacco effects and that you can only get sick in you’re 40’s.
“The dental hygienist Sandy showed us something on spit tobacco. One guy’s mouth was completely black and he was so young - it was worse than the videos you see in school,” second year HCHS BLAST member Jordan Pelley said.
For the future, the HCHS BLAST team is going to look at gathering signatures for a province-wide smoke ban.
“We always hear about people with cancer but when you see the pictures and the cancer it’s a lot more effective to quit smoking,” Andre said.http://www.hintonparklander.com/story.php?id=127101
Tue, November 16, 2004
Hoteliers revolt -MB
Meet tomorrow to plan fight against butt banBy FRANK LANDRY, LEGISLATURE REPORTER
Rural hotel owners are banding together to fight the province's ban on indoor smoking -- but the NDP government says they don't stand a chance. More than 100 rural hotel owners have been invited to a meeting tomorrow night in Brunkild to formulate a battle plan.
And the Brunkild Bar and Grill has launched a website -- www.smokeouthypocrisy.com -- in an effort to get the Doer government to soften its crackdown on tobacco.
"This legislation is killing people, both literally and figuratively," said Guy Desrosiers, who designed the website. "People are scared they'll lose their businesses."
Desrosiers' brother, Gary, owns the Brunkild Bar and Grill and is hosting the angry hotel owners.
To help drive their point home, the Desrosiers brothers are selling a T-shirt on the website and in the bar that depicts an angry face puffing on a cigarette. Above the picture it says, "Can the ban."
'WILL OF THE PEOPLE'
Despite some vocal opposition, Healthy Living Minister Theresa Oswald said the province won't back down on the tobacco crackdown.
"I would be hard-pressed to suggest we would go against the will of the people of Manitoba who told us the ban is what they wanted," Oswald said.
Robert Jenkinson, who faces 13 charges for violating Manitoba's Non-Smokers Health Protection Act, said he'll be at tomorrow's rally.
"If one person gets charged, we all get charged," said the owner of the Creekside Hideaway in Treherne. "This is a cause not only for smoking, but for freedom of choice."
Jim Baker, president of the Manitoba Hotel Association, said the butt ban has clearly hit some rural hoteliers "right between the eyes."
"This is the reaction by one or two very frightened investors that see the rules changing on them and putting their livelihoods in jeopardy," Baker said.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/WinnipegSun/News/2004/11/16/716321.html
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