Awkward spots update
Room to improve -ON March 2, 2008 By EARL MCRAE, OTTAWA SUN Veterans finally have their smoking lounge, some of the time ... The aged war vet was angry. I encountered him in the corridor leaving the smoking room at the Perley and Rideau Veterans Health Centre where he'd just had his third cigarette of the day. Yes. Believe it. The renovated room is finally open. After months of opening promises and letdowns that confused and frustrated the smokers who had to go outside to indulge their pleasure -- their frail health vulnerable to rotten weather -- the room that the benevolent you, the public, made possible with some $80,000 in donations opened last Thursday. I went over yesterday to check it out, not expecting anymore glitches, (surely no more glitches), and saw the sign: Hours Of Operation 9:15-17:00 Daily. Hold it. The room is open only between 9:15 in the morning and 5 o'clock in the afternoon? "No one told us this," said the vet bitterly. "It's saying 'We don't like you smoking, so we're only going to let you smoke up to 5 o'clock.' They're treating us like children. Bloody ridiculous." Ridiculous, indeed. Does the Perley and Rideau think smokers automatically stop smoking at 5 p.m. each day only to automatically start again at 9:15 a.m.? What is the room -- a retail shop with closing and opening hours, including for holidays? Does the Perley and Rideau believe bad weather only happens between 9:15 a.m. and 5 p.m. after which lovely weather automatically sets in making it a delight for the smokers to once again go outside between 5 p.m. and 9:15 a.m. the next day? "I had to go outside last night to smoke," said the vet. "Why in blazes can't that room be open 24 hours? I'm telling you, they're trying to discourage us from smoking. Sure I'm addicted, but it's what I enjoy. At my goddamn age in life, I don't need do-gooders trying to get me to stop." The room for the smokers is off a smaller non-smoking room that connects to the main corridor. The smoking room is windowless, not large. Maximum Occupancy -- 6 Persons, says its sign. Six? It's big enough to comfortably seat more. It has two green, hard plastic chairs. A round table with two ashtrays. Thirty-eight butts are in the ashtrays. Another sign on the smoking room door: You Have To Live Here To Smoke Here. And Due To The Grave Health Effects Of Second-Hand Smoke, Employees Are Not Required To Enter. Grave health effects from second-hand smoke? From the smoke that is being provincially-standard, state-of-the-art ventilated to the outside? Give me a colossal break. You'd think "employees" would be stepping into the screaming hell of a thousand, torturous, diseases. FIRE-RETARDANT APRONS And in the outer-room, what were those six plastic, beige aprons hanging on hooks, aprons with the printed words Smoking Lounge? Fire-retardant aprons? The smokers so careless they have to put on these aprons, kind of like an apron being put on a child in a highchair? Aprons to be worn voluntarily? Or enforced? I phoned Paul Finn. He's managing director of the Perley and Rideau Foundation that co-ordinated the fund-raising. A non-smoker, Finn has been a huge supporter of the room for the smokers. A hero, no villain. The delays, the glitches, were outside his control. The closing and opening hours sign. "The room doesn't shut down at 5 p.m. until the next morning. By law, it has to close each day for cleaning, but only for two hours and 15 minutes after 5 p.m. Except for that, it's open 24 hours." The sign is wrong, he says, needs to be clarified, and will be. The aprons? He was puzzled. "I don't know about that. I didn't see them. I'll find out and let you know on Monday." Finn said there will be more furnishings for the room to make it pleasant, including wall ceramics, and a large, flat-screen, high definition TV. "We want to thank all those who made the room possible. Since it opened, we've received calls from people saying thank you." On the wall outside the entrance off the corridor, are two gold plaques: One crediting the "individuals and businesses" who "generously supported" the room; the other a dedication of the room on behalf of District G, Ontario Command, the Royal Canadian Legion. The words on those two got it right. Read
Facility curbs right to meet -ON Order to end interview raises question: Are people residents or inmates? Dave Brown, The Ottawa Citizen January 14, 2008 The war against smoking has fallout as the vanquished discover they've lost not only the right to smoke, but in some cases, basic Charter rights -- like freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. One week ago, I was ordered out of the lobby of Carlingview Manor, a long-term care facility on Carling Avenue. Apparently, the resident who invited me had not first sought management approval for the visit. The order came from the home's director, Bruce Peterkin. I didn't leave quietly and, in a later telephone conversation, apologized to Mr. Peterkin for the temporary loss of my volume control. Volume doesn't show in print, but I'm still screaming. -Image: An interview with resident Don Delahunt about his efforts to get a smoking room at Carlingview Manor took a darker turn when the long-term care facility's director intervened, and said the reporter needed permission to speak to Mr. Delahunt -- who is not of diminished capacity and has the paperwork to prove it. s the paperwork to prove it. It was part of his medical package when he moved in after months in hospital. He had a stroke July 27. It left him blind and in a wheelchair. He's one of 40 smokers in the place, and they want a smoking room. He took on a leadership role in the fight. It was my use of a notebook that triggered the alarm that an interview was in progress, and Mr. Peterkin appeared. When his order to leave was refused, he said police would be called. Fine. I'll wait. But Mr. Peterkin stayed, and it became clear an interview would be impossible. The only way it would happen, he said, would be if I left, called him, and had my acceptance of Mr. Delahunt's invitation approved. The story suddenly moved from smoking to basic rights. Perhaps if Mr. Delahunt invited me to his private quarters upstairs? I was told to leave, call, and talk about it. My volume increased. He said he would make himself available for our talk later, but meanwhile, had more pressing matters. On the edge of losing my temper, I left. Mr. Peterkin called later to tell me I had been approved, and gave his view on the smoking issue. He said government regulations shut down the manor's smoking room more than a year ago, and new regulations make upgrading costs prohibitive. It's the same for 630 similar long-term care homes in Ontario. But the issue now was the right of the institution to control residents' rights to speak to whomever they want -- or to use the lobby for such conversations. Are they residents or inmates? Is there a fear of whistleblowing or complaining? The need to protect a person of diminished capacity is understandable, but should not equal care be taken to protect the rights of the able? Mr. Peterkin referred the issue to head office. That's Central Care Corporation in Mississauga, with 90 seniors facilities in Canada, and the spokeswoman is Mary Nestor. It's a confusing issue, she said, pointing to just some of the legislation that governs such homes -- The Residential Tenancies Act (2006), Landlord and Tenants Act, Nursing Homes Act, Charitable Homes Act, Municipal Homes Act and the list goes on. The Smoke Free Ontario Act is in there, too. She supported Mr. Peterkin's handling of the situation. Ann Dobbins didn't. A registered nurse and long-time seniors advocate, she is now a researcher and liaison officer with Alavida Lifestyles, a new player in Ottawa's retirement residence field. She called the approach "ridiculous" and a "violation of rights. They (residents) have a right to talk to anybody they want to." It's a situation that is growing more complex as legislators grind out more legislation. My suggestion: If management is concerned about a resident conferring, its first question should be to itself. Is there a power of attorney on file for that patient? If there is, step in immediately. If there isn't and you step in, you're out of line and don't be surprised if somebody raises a voice of objection. I think I just withdrew my apology. With Mr. Delahunt and myself at the lobby meeting was Howard King, 87, another resident/inmate proudly born and raised in Sydney, N.S. He said he's been smoking for 80 years. He offered something to think about: If they (anti-smoking campaigners) are worried about polluting the air, they should think again about a room with exhaust. He said he's pretty sure not every resident is, like smokers, stepping outside to pass gas. Ask him if he always does that, and he'll give you a look of great piety. Society declared war on smoking. We won. What's happening now is the mopping-up phase, and we're giving no quarter. We've become mean. It's tantamount to shooting the wounded. dbrown000@sympatico.caRead
Smoking room for vets really is in the works January 13, 2008 By EARL MCRAE The World War Two vet who phoned me was speaking for all those who've been phoning and writing the Perley and Rideau Veterans Health Centre angrily demanding an answer. "What in hell is going on?" asked the vet, a smoker. "The room here was supposed to open a couple of months ago, and it's just sitting ignored. Is this some conspiracy going on by all the damn anti-smoking types to prevent the room? I thought the room was approved." The smoking room at the centre has been approved, both by the institution's board and the provincial government that permits a non-smoking exemption for facilities such as the Perley and Rideau, that has some 20 hardcore smokers, and the room was to have opened last fall after renovation to meet the province's stiff controlled-ventilation requirements. MONEY COLLECTED Thirteen months ago, after the centre said it didn't have the budget for the room, I started a fund-raising campaign through my column that raised $83,000 -- $3,000 more than the projected cost -- in donations from caring citizens, businesses, branches of the Royal Canadian Legion. That meant the aged, often feeble, smokers wouldn't have to be sent outside anymore in freezing, rotten weather, and the Perley and Rideau proclaimed the next step: Unleashing the architect, engineers, contractors -- the room to open in late October, no later than mid-November. It's now, of course, mid-January. Yesterday, I visited the room -- after passing by a thin, trembling old man in a wheelchair outside, smoking his cigarette in the brittle cold. It's small. It's a former staff lounge. Its door was locked. Its windows, dusty. In the dark inside it was empty but for a metal stepladder, an industrial vacuum cleaner, a few slabs of drywall leaning against the wall, some boxes on the grimy floor. "Construction Site" said a big sign on the window. Next to a sheet of paper by the city of Ottawa with the words "Building Permit" and "No. 0709068" and "issued Nov. 27, 2007" and signed by one Arlene Gregoire, "chief building official." Next to a sheet of paper by the province of Ontario with the words "Notice Of Project" and "Nov. 12, 2007" and "To provide a new controlled smoking room on the 2nd level of main common building" and signed by Paul Lacasse, president of JPL Construction Services Inc. of Carp, the general contractor. FRUSTRATED A "conspiracy going on by all the damn anti-smoking types to prevent the room?" Conspiracy theorists, stand down. Which is not to say there isn't a villain. There is. "It's all to do with certain necessary parts that are on back order and haven't arrived yet," said Paul Finn, managing director of the Perley and Rideau Foundation. "Otherwise, everything is raring to go. I know people think 'oh, they're deliberately delaying it,' but that's not right. I'll be glad when I don't have to take anymore calls from people saying 'What's going on, we gave you money.' I don't blame people for being upset and frustrated. We are, too." Greg Fougere, executive director, the Perley and Rideau: "We thought we'd have the parts before now. My manager of plant services is pulling his hair out. There is a need for people to stay out of the cold, and hopefully it won't be too long now. I anticipate it'll open by February." Paul Lacasse, who said the special, custom-made, sophisticated ventilation system parts are manufactured in Oregon and Mississauga: "You often get delays of this kind in manufacturing. The Christmas break didn't help. I'm hoping the parts will arrive this week. If they do, the room should be ready in a couple of weeks after that." Let's hope so. It would not be nice to have happen at the Perley and Rideau what happened to mentally and physically challenged Barry Collen, 74, of the personal care Sharon Home in Winnipeg. On Jan. 3, Barry Collen went outside for a smoke. The facility has a smoking room, but his sister-in-law Ann told the Winnipeg Sun "he was banned from the room for smoking too much." Barry Collen was found lying dead in the -31C temperature. Death from exposure, said the medical examiner. Read
Delay fires up smokers -ON November 19, 2007 Dave Brown, The Ottawa Citizen The funding's in place, but Perley residents are still waiting for a room of their own. One of three people in wheelchairs huddled outside the Perley and Rideau Veterans' Health Centre on a drizzling November morning is Nicole Allarie, 52, outspoken stroke victim and unrepentant smoker. She believes she's not fighting just for her right to make her own risk assessments, but also intolerance. That's her view of the anti-smoking campaigners in the ongoing fight to not just control, but ban smoking. She says she purchases a legal product (duMaurier ultra mild) and, on every transaction, the government pockets a large part of her payment. She is a resident at the institution -- not a prisoner. "I respect the rights of other residents to be free of smoke. That's why I got involved in passing around a petition for a smoking room." Others have conducted a successful fundraising program that met the $80,000 estimated cost of equipping a room. The money came from those worried about elderly people with the dangerous combination of addiction and mobility problems. The smokers' side thought they had everything in place a year ago. One of Ms. Allarie's smoking buddies was an 82-year-old woman. The other was a man of similar vintage, who grumped that he believed authorities were playing with them, and the smoking room was never going to happen. They're wrong, says the health centre's executive director, Greg Fougère. "We hope to have the room operating before the end of the year." As for delays: "We're operating in an area where people have strong feelings and emotions on both sides. There's lots of debate. No consensus." Ms. Allarie wonders about minority rights. She knows that, as a smoker, she's part of a minority. A Centretown kid when she first lit up at age 12 or 13, smokers were then the majority. Now, at the Perley, according to Mr. Fougère, of the 450 residents, only 17 are smokers. When the Smoke Free Ontario Act kicked in on June 1, 2006, there were 27 smokers in the centre. On that date, the institution shut the smoking rooms that served individual units, and smokers were forced outside. The situation was repeated throughout Ontario's 617 long-term care facilities, which house about 75,000 seniors. Mr. Fougère says the Perley is one of only 20 of those facilities that is planning to operate a smoking room. The planned smoking room has five-year approval and, after that, the institution is intended to go smoke-free. The equipment needed to vent the room has been purchased and provincial approvals are in place. The delay seems to be from the city's end, and it includes a building permit that appears to be stalled. If the delays are part of the anti-smoking campaign, they're dangerous. Ms. Allarie's 82-year-old friend slipped and fell outside the building last winter. Her addiction overruled her concerns about safety and she went out on an icy day. Addictions are like that. The anti-smoking campaigners are likely the same people who would provide the pipe, should the woman become addicted to crack cocaine. Ms. Allarie also had a close call. She slipped out for a smoke one night and was in a courtyard with limited access. She fell out of her wheelchair. Paralysed on one side, she was unable to get up. She figured sooner or later, another smoker, resident or staff, would come out for a smoke and find her. What she didn't figure was that she'd have to wait 45 minutes for that to happen. "It was cold, but not freezing. But if it was below freezing, I could have been in big trouble." The Perley is no stranger to the business of minding other people's business. Since it is also the major facility for veterans in need of assisted living, a pleasant bar with a military atmosphere was built into it. There was resistance from anti-alcohol campaigners. A typical Ontario compromise was found. Build the bar, but count the drinks. The lounge will not serve more than two drinks to any one customer. It's a strange attitude, in that every free citizen is, as the provincial government advertises, his or her own liquor control board. Residents can drink in their own rooms and not keep count. That the drink count has been accepted could be an indicator of things to come. Move the attitude to main street, and your favourite bar could be telling you when to go home -- and not smoke when you get there. dbrown000@sympatico.caRead
Make room for veterans -ON September 13, 2007 By EARL McRAE You did it. You answered the call for those who once answered the call for you. Hundreds of you who didn't just talk the talk, but walked the walk for our aged former soldiers who smoke at the Perley and Rideau Veterans' Health Centre. You've donated $85,000, exceeding by $3,000 the cost of renovating to government standards under the province's Smoke Free Ontario Act a room at the centre to accommodate the some 22 residents, mostly men, who smoke, as many of their generation did, one of the few pleasures they have left in their dwindling lives. Men and women not in the best of health who are forced outside in all manner of weather to smoke. Soon to end. The money is in, architectural and mechanical plans have been finalized to meet the government's requirement that exempts from the Act institutions such as the Perley and Rideau, they've been submitted for provincial approval that is expected shortly, the contractors for the work will then be chosen, the room expected to open by late October or early November. "The money started coming in right after you wrote your first column," says Paul Finn, the creative, dynamic executive director of the centre's foundation. "I'm so deeply gratified at people in this community supporting the veterans and seniors at the Perley and Rideau." A thank you to Gord Bunke who tipped me off about the issue last December. Bunke, who is a caring, regular visitor to the centre. The centre's board had been against a smoking room, but after hearing submissions, and in a tight vote, approved such a room. But with a proviso: The vets would have to come up with the substantial money themselves, the hospital said it didn't have the budget. There was more than just a whiff of suspicion that the board was hoping the vets -- mostly on small, fixed incomes and with minimal financial resources -- would not be able to raise the bucks, and it'd be off the hook. The board underestimated the sympathetic, compassionate hearts of you who responded to my several columns over the months asking for your financial help in the cause. Paul Finn: "We received donations from many Legion branches from $1,000 to $10,000 and amounts in between. Also from some retail businesses. But by far most of the donations were from individuals. The biggest was $1,000, the smallest $25. We've had some contractors who do this kind of work offer their services for free or at reduced cost. "Some who donated also wrote letters saying that while they don't smoke themselves, or approve of smoking, they support the veterans in this matter. That their dads or grandfathers or uncles who served smoked, even if some of them don't anymore, and the veterans deserve the room as a way of thanking them for defending our freedom. I didn't get one letter saying they shouldn't be smoking, that smoking is terrible." Finn, born in England after World War II, is not a smoker. "My father smoked three packs a day all his life, my mother was a casual smoker, my sister is a former smoker. I tried one cigarette when I was a kid, hated the taste, and never did it again." But Finn has no time for those who ride the sanctimonious high horse when it comes to our former soldiers who smoke. "I have a lot of understanding and sympathy for these men and women who smoke. They are good people. They smoke, so be it. Remembrance Day. Sooner is fine, but if the room was to open on Remembrance Day itself, that'd certainly be nice, wouldn't it?" Read
Smoking may put tenant out in the cold -ON Apartment owner wants renter evicted after friends lit up when he wasn't home Apr 27, 2007 Isabel Teotonio Staff reporter An unusual battle has heated up between a Toronto landlord and her non-smoking tenant, who she wants evicted because his friends lit up inside his apartment. Christine Cebula, who owns a furnished luxury condo in Yorkville, will take her case to the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board to try and evict John Davidson, who requested a non-smoking unit and signed a year-long lease agreeing there would be no smoking in it. She is also seeking $9,900 to cover the cost of replacing linens, towels, broadloom and reupholstering some of the furnishings in the condo, which she previously has rented as short-term accommodation to travelling executives. But Davidson, who admits friends lit up inside the ninth-floor unit on a few occasions when he wasn't home, says there has been no damage from the smoke. He calls her allegations "bogus." Read More
Let seniors have their puffs -ON April 11, 2007
Christina Blizzard Four years ago, Debbie Pratt and her family made a tough decision. They just couldn't care for her 78-year-old mother at home any longer and were forced put her in a long-term care facility. Her mother had smoked for more than 40 years and she wasn't about to quit. With that in mind, the family found her a home that had a monitored, ventilated, fire-safe smoking room for residents, so her mom could indulge her minor vice in peace. Little did they know that peace was about to be shattered by well-meaning but horribly flawed "smoke-free Ontario" legislation. Last May, new regulations forced the smokers in long-term care homes out on the street -- unless they renovated those smoking rooms to meet tougher standards. And most simply can't afford the $100,000-$150,000 they estimate it will cost to have them meet those new requirements. "My mother, who is in a wheelchair, cannot dress herself, let alone put on many layers needed to shield her from the cold," Pratt told a news conference yesterday. Her 81-year-old father has to travel to the Hamilton nursing home twice a day in order to dress his wife and help her make the trip outside. (The news conference was sponsored by mychoice.ca, a smokers' rights lobby group funded by the tobacco industry.) Earlier this year, Pratt's mother was found outside, with no coat or hat to protect her from the January cold. Another elderly resident slipped on ice in the smoking area, and remained on the ground until a worker was found to move him. This is scarily reminiscent of a Manitoulin nursing home resident who died Jan. 16 after being left outside after a smoke break. An employee of the home has since been charged with criminal negligence causing death. So the frail and ill have to risk frostbite -- or worse -- just to have a smoke in peace. And let's get real here. These elderly people aren't going to quit smoking. What is likely to happen is you'll have people unsafely sneaking smokes in their room. Or they'll freeze to death or hurt themselves when they fall on ice. What point is the government trying to make here? Donna Rubin, CEO of the Ontario Association of Non-profit Homes and Services for Seniors says only 6% of 75,000 residents in 600 homes are smokers. The smoking lounges they had in the homes prior to the new legislation were safe for employees. They had good air circulation and staff didn't have to go into them and breathe the second-hand smoke, she said. "We asked that those be grandfa thered. That was not agreed upon," she said. As a result, most of the homes have gone smoke-free. "Our residents are forced out in inclement weather to nine metres from the building. Staff are not required to provide assistance outside," Rubin said. "They can't be outside monitoring their situation once they have gone outside the building," she said. Health Promotion Minister Jim Watson is not sympathetic. He says the government made a concession to nursing homes in the first place by allowing smoking rooms. And he says nursing home employees need to be protected from second-hand smoke. "I don't believe we should be spending tax dollars to build smoking lounges," he said in an interview. "My question to the tobacco industry is if they are that concerned about these people, they should pony up the money for the smoking rooms themselves," Watson said. Look, I don't smoke. I don't allow people to smoke in my home. And I like to think I'm as snotty as the next reformed smoker when I ask others to butt out. But aren't we being just a tad hypocritical in not letting seniors in nursing homes and vets in legions smoke, when Casino Windsor spent $2 million on heated smoking rooms to ensure the comfort of their clients? Meanwhile, the government is doing nothing to crack down on cheap smokes on native reserves -- where the smoking rate among aboriginal youth is at an all-time high: 61% of teen girls on reserves smoke as do 47% of teen boys. And surely the people you want to target with this new law are young people. Smoke free Ontario? I see lots of smoke. I see mirrors, too. Read
Group calls for review of treatment of smokers in long-term care facilities April 10, 2007 Amid reports of unfair and even dangerous treatment of smokers in Ontario’s long-term care facilities, mychoice.ca today called for a review of the policies and practices imposed in many of these homes since the Smoke Free Ontario Act came into force almost a year ago. “We hear alarming stories every week from residents, family members and home operators and workers about accidents as residents are forced outside and even off the property to smoke,” said Nancy Daigneault, president of mychoice.ca, which now has more than 42,000 members. “We hear of fire risks, unpleasant forced cessation programmes, of depression and falls in cold icy winter conditions,” Ms. Daigneault said. “We are convinced that what is now happening out of the public eye is not what most Ontarians signed on for when they were asked to support the Liberal government’s Smoke Free Ontario Act,” said Ms. Daigneault. Before it passed its new law in June 2005 and its regulations in early 2006, the government heard from those who operate and work in homes, from residents, from fire marshals and others. All were calling for the homes to be allowed to maintain facilities where residents could smoke safely and under supervision. “But it chose to listen only to those groups whose goal is to see smoking banned everywhere,” said Ms. Daigneault. “It promised it would exempt these homes from a total ban on smoking rooms under the new law, but then designed regulations that are so unworkable, most homes have been unable to comply and have had to close their smoking rooms.” There has already been at least one case of a resident dying after being forced and left outside in the cold to smoke, and several close calls involving seniors falling and being injured after being forced outside. Ms. Daigneault called for a review of the impact of the new law and regulations on residents, noting that the then Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health last fall went on record saying the regulations would have to be reviewed if they proved to be too onerous. As a first step, the government should release a list of all the incident reports filed with the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care involving accidents, fire risks and other problems in the past 12 months. “We know from our members of many cases that should be on the list, and believe these are only the tip of the iceberg,” said Ms. Daigneault. “We have filed a Freedom of Information request for the ministry’s full list to see if reports are being filed and to find out the extent of the problems, but we are concerned there will be delays because we still have other FOI requests outstanding for other information nearly 30 months after we filed them,” Ms. Daigneault said. “The government should not be allowed to stall for years on this request.” Mary Gordon, who runs a group home in the GTA, says the smoking ban has caused depression and other hardships for the people with disabilities who live at her facility. The majority smoke and even those who do not, have signed petitions calling for a smoking room to be re-opened, says Mrs. Gordon. “It is not fair – my home is adjacent to the group home and I can smoke there, but my residents can’t have a smoking room in their residence right next door,” says Mrs. Gordon, who has constructed a smoking shelter outside, but notes that because the law says it cannot have more than two walls and a roof, it does not protect the residents from the elements. Debbie Pratt’s family specifically chose a palliative care facility that allowed smoking for her mother. Efforts were made to grandfather the existing smoking facilities when the new law came into force, but to no avail. Now her mother and others who call the residence home are forced outside to smoke. “This is her home in her sunset years and this law is making life miserable for her,” says Mrs. Pratt. “My mother’s health has deteriorated and her welfare has been compromised and I strongly believe it is largely due to her being forced outside in these conditions. Congratulations to the masterminds of the smoking ban law.” Ms. Daigneault said mychoice.ca members are also concerned that residents of long term care facilities are being preyed on as vulnerable targets to set precedents to help some anti-smoking activists achieve their ultimate goal of banning smoking in all homes. “We now have campaigns underway to ban smoking in apartment buildings and condos and it will not be long before proponents start arguing that if people in long term care facilities can be banned from smoking in their homes, then apartment and condo dwellers should also be banned,” Ms. Daigneault said. “If we are going to allow governments and other authorities to go down this route against smokers, then do not be surprised if we start seeing neighbours pitted against neighbours on a whole range of other issues where people object to the legal activities that others engage in behind the privacy of their own front door.” Mychoice.ca members believe in mutual respect and accommodation, and that sensible approaches can be taken to resolve problems if we stop trying to turn one group against another and trampling on some of our society’s most basic principles. “We can find ways to get along,” Ms. Daigneault said. “We just need to put an end to attempts by some to use fear mongering as a substitute for reasoned debate and fair and sensible laws.” -30- Please refer to the backgrounder for facts and references to support the statements made in the above press release. Also, take a look at the seven questions we feel a public review should ask Health Minister Smitherman. Read
Norview smokers fight to light up Fifteen smokers among the home’s 178 residents have to go outside to light up Friday March 23, 2007 Daniel Pearce SIMCOE REFORMER Norview residents told to butt out by the province are fighting back with a petition calling for their smoking rooms to be re-opened. “When you live in a house, you can smoke. Now you’ve moved into Norview, it’s your home,” said Jack Murray, 72, a resident of the county nursing home who is leading the campaign to petition Queen’s Park. “I should be able to smoke as I did in my home.” Norview on Queensway West opened less than two years ago and was built with two ventilated smoking rooms for residents. Since then, however, Ontario smoking laws have been tightened. The rooms don’t meet new standards that call for a vestibule to help keep second-hand smoke from leaking into hallways. It means the 15 smokers among the home’s 178 residents have to go outside to light up. Murray’s petition calls for the Ontario government to “grandfather” smoking rooms in long-term care facilities. “People have to go outside. It’s so dam cold out there,” said Murray, a retired factory worker who grew up on a tobacco farm near Lynedoch. “I pay $2,144 a month to be here.” Patti Moore, general manager of Norfolk and Haldimand’s health and social services department, said the county has already turned down a proposal to add vestibules to the rooms at a cost of $60,000. Instead, an outdoor smoking area with a roof and a couple of walls is being planned, Moore said. She said the petition is unlikely to succeed because the province’s long-term care homes lobbied unsuccessfully for the grandfathering of the rooms well before the legislation was passed. “Few if any homes across the province have any legal smoking rooms,” Moore noted. “Quite a number of homes are designated smoke free.” (Julie Rosenberg, spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion said 16 of the province’s 621 long-term care facilities have smoking rooms). Sitting in his wheelchair outside the front door with a cigarette in his hand, William Taylor, 72, said “no, not really” when asked if he minds the change. “It’s not so much me as older folks in their 80s and up. They can’t navigate (their wheelchairs outside),” said Taylor. For Murray the closing of the rooms is also an insult to the area’s heritage. “People don’t know what tobacco did for Norfolk County,” he said, claiming it helped pave roads and provide summer jobs for university students. Even if it’s unsuccessful, the petition is worthwhile, Murray added. “Everybody says ‘You’re just wasting your time. What’s the use?’ But at least we’ll let them know we have concerns Read
Burning mad in the cold -ON
Feb 09, 2007
Elderly smokers must huddle outside nursing homes, Phinjo Gombu finds
On a bitterly cold day this week, it takes Jim MacDonald 1 1/2 minutes to light a cigarette while sitting huddled in a wheelchair outside the Mississauga long-term care home where he lives.
The howling wind has pushed the wind chill factor to -20C. That, combined with the fact MacDonald, 74, is paralyzed on his right side and has use of only one hand, makes a routine task particularly frustrating.
"This is maddening, that's how it really feels," says MacDonald, a checkered blanket draped over his knees. The baseball hat on his head has just blown away.
"It's just maddening to feel this way, that's all," he says as he struggles to light his cigarette.
Like many other smokers in nursing homes across the province, MacDonald must tend to his pack-a-day habit outside the facility under the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, which became law last year.
They are the "unlucky" smokers. The "lucky" ones live in the few homes equipped with smoking rooms, or the veterans who stay in a special wing at Sunnybrook hospital
The law allows the province's 620 long-term care homes to install specially designed and ventilated smoking rooms for smokers who can't kick their habit.
But a combination of cost, funding and design restrictions has meant that only a handful – just 1.5 per cent – of them have had such rooms installed.
Surveys have shown that about 5 per cent of all seniors in such homes smoke, although in some places, the numbers are as high as 25 per cent of all residents.
Murray Miles Patterson, 65, was one of the "unlucky" smokers. The stroke victim stepped out of his Manitoulin Island nursing home in January for a cigarette with two other residents but didn't return, and was later found suffering from hypothermia. He died the next day in hospital.
A worker at the home has been charged with criminal negligence causing death.
A coroner's investigation is under way. If it finds that smoking outside contributed to Patterson's death, it could prompt an inquest that would scrutinize the Smoke-Free Ontario Act.
Health Minister George Smitherman has said it's a "copout" to blame the law for the death. He said nursing homes are obliged to ensure the safety of their residents.
Yet with no construction money from the province, which funds all long-term care homes, costs ranging up to $180,000 for a room have scared operators from constructing them.
MacDonald says he's torn.
He enjoys smoking, a habit acquired a lifetime ago when he travelled the province as a lumber salesman. But he says he would love to kick the habit if he could, to avoid the nuisance of going out.
Sometimes, on colder days, it's three times a day, when he smokes as many as he can. Other times, he can be found outside at least seven times a day.
It takes him at least 10 minutes to dress. He then must make the lonely trek to his spot near a window and roofless gazebo on the west side of the home, pulling his wheelchair forward one step at a time with his good foot.
From his vantage point, MacDonald stares at the cars that whiz by on the Gardiner Expressway, sometimes counting how many red cars or blue cars go by to kill time.
He speaks slowly in strong, clear sentences which trail off from time to time, the result of the stroke suffered seven or eight years ago.
When MacDonald is able to say what he wants, his thoughts come through loud and clear.
He still hasn't gotten over the closing of the smoking room on his floor because it did not meet the requirements under the stringent new law.
"We had it one day and not the next," MacDonald says.
Words like "bitter" and "awful" roll out slowly. He thinks it's a "terrible law" but you have to roll with the punches.
"They are a little much," he says.
MacDonald says he's sad that he is faced with the situation, at his advanced age, of having to be interviewed for no other reason than the fact he smokes.
He wishes he were back in the comfort of the old smoking rooms, that also had ventilation systems but didn't have as many strict conditions placed on them as the ones today.
"What else can I do but smoke," he says helplessly.
Asked if he wants to tell Premier Dalton McGuinty anything about his situation, he struggles and then says, "Tell him to mind his own business," before his voice fades away into the wind. Read
Elderly smokers Matter more than casinos -ON
Ann Welch
(Jan 23, 2007) So, the Ontario government is above its own law against smokers and is building luxurious, heated smoking shelters at casinos to stop falling revenues -- at a cost of $250,000 each. Meanwhile, the government is refusing to offer one penny to long-term care homes to upgrade existing smoking rooms to their new over-the-top specifications. The residents of these homes are well over the age of any so-called "premature death." They are in their 70s, 80s and 90s. They are our parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. They have mobility problems, they use canes, wheelchairs and walkers. They have survived their tobacco habit, world wars, and the Great Depression. These are the people that helped build Canada into the wonderful country it is today, and to thank them for their lifelong contribution they are now sent outside, like dogs to do their business, during the harsh Ontario winter. Just because the government can't make a buck off them is no reason to show such disrespect and lack of compassion. The provincial government should do the right thing and grandfather the old rooms or provide funding for the new ones. Read
Smoking trumps getting out of bed -ON By Dana Brown, The Hamilton Spectator
Jan 23, 2007 Home-care workers quit over woman's habit It's National Non-Smoking Week, but not everyone is gladly butting out. Wheelchair-bound Carole Dawson knows she's breaking the rules by lighting up in her apartment while her home health-care worker is there. But the 68-year-old, who has been smoking since she was 13, says she doesn't care. "All I ask is to have one cigarette with my coffee in the morning." Dawson has dug in her heels and is refusing to butt out, even if it means losing 1 1/2 hours a day of weekend home health care. "Don't take (smoking) out of our home, too," she said. "We don't have that much time left. Let us enjoy what we've got." The laws governing smoking now reach into some homes. People who have personal care workers can no longer light up with them in the house. According to the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, which came into effect May 31, 2006, home health-care workers can leave a client's residence if they are smoking and refuse to stop when asked, unless leaving would put the person in immediate danger. Dawson has an arrangement with her weekday workers. But the weekend staff have asked her to stop. She has refused. That means Dawson's lost the help she needs to get out of bed. Barbara Busing MacKinnon, senior director of client services for the region's Community Care Access Centre, which helps arrange home care, said she could not speak about a specific case. The clash of workers' rights and the rights of smokers has become an issue at places such as long-term care facilities. Only one facility in Hamilton, Townsview Lifecare Centre on Mary Street, has been approved to construct an indoor smoking room. The room will cost about $65,000 and should be open by the end of the month. Until then, the centre has erected a two-walled smoking shack outside for the about 30 residents who smoke. The smoking shacks have been popping up at health-care facilities all over the city, according to Hamilton's Public Health Services. Robert Hall, director of the health protection division, said inspectors check regularly to make sure the shelters follow provincial guidelines. There can be no more than two walls and a roof. If it's at a long-term care facility, the shelter must be nine metres away from an entrance, exit or food and beverage area. "Basically, any type of workplace that isn't a bar or restaurant can do it," he said. Nancy Daigneault, president of smokers' rights advocacy group My Choice, said telling people such as Dawson what they can and can't do in their own home is going too far. "This is your own private residence. What you decide to do in your own home is your business," she said. But Julie Rosenberg, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health Promotion, said the intent of the act is to prevent people from being forced to inhale second-hand smoke. "In the case of a home health-care worker, this is a home health-care worker's workplace." Smoking facts * Just over 4.5 million Canadians are smokers. They represent 18 per cent of the population (age 15 and older). * The average daily smoker smokes 15.4 cigarettes per day. * 16 per cent of youths aged 15-19 smoke, and on average, they consume 12 cigarettes per day. * 15 per cent of Canadian households had at least one person who regularly smoked inside the home. * 68 per cent of Canadians (15 years and older) say smoking should not be allowed in any section of a restaurant. * 25 per cent of Canadians say they had been exposed to second-hand smoke inside a car over the previous month. Another 20 per cent were exposed to second-hand smoke inside a restaurant and 29 per cent said they were exposed to it on an outdoor patio of a restaurant or bar. * 51 per cent of smokers too young to legally buy cigarettes said they received them from a friend or relative. The remaining 49 per cent said they purchased them on their own from a retail source. From the Health Canada report 2006 Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey (CTUMS) released yesterday. Burning questions Do you plan to give up smoking in the near future? * "No, but I have a message for children to not smoke. I made the biggest mistake of my life starting smoking and I am addicted right now. I am always trying to quit. So hopefully I do that. I started smoking when I was ten years old and I've been smoking for 25 years." -- Mabel Khims * "No. I like to smoke. I'm not quitting for anybody." -- Ron Bolton As a non-smoker, what do you think of smoking? * "As far as smoking goes I don't think anyone should smoke at all. I don't like the smell of it and it ruins the taste of food." -- Joseph Hanrahan * "Smoking causes a lot of health problems. It causes lung cancer and it's a proven fact. And being around second-hand smoke causes lung cancer. I've never smoked a day in my life and I never will." -- Martin Desharnai
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