IOC to investigate Canadian women's hockey team for celebration

Feb 26, 2010
By Chris Chase

The International Olympic Committee will investigate the actions of Canadian women's hockey players who celebrated their gold medal victory Thursday night by swigging beer and smoking cigars on the ice in Vancouver.

A number of players, including 18-year-old superstar Marie-Philip Poulin, were drinking alcohol on the ice following the team's 2-0 defeat of the United States. (The legal drinking age in British Columbia is 19.) Players lingered for more than 70 minutes after the awards ceremony reveling in the arena, which was empty except for media and arena staff. (Click here to view a slideshow of the celebration.)

Gilbert Felli, the IOC's executive director of the Olympic Games, said that drinking in public was "not what we want to see" from athletes at an Olympic venue. The organization will investigate the actions and will speak with the international hockey federation and Canadian Olympic Committee and ask them to "act accordingly."

Steve Keough, a spokesman for the Canadian Olympic Committee, told the Associated Press, “We condone celebrations. … We don’t condone actions of irresponsibility. I think Canadians understand it’s quite an emotional moment for our team. It was not our intention to go against any IOC protocols.”

Hockey Canada apologized for the players' conduct in a statement released late Thursday.

“The members of Team Canada apologize if their on-ice celebrations, after fans had left the building, have offended anyone. In the excitement of the moment, the celebration left the confines of our dressing room and shouldn’t have. The team regrets that its gold medal celebration may have caused the IOC or COC any embarrassment.

To be sure, the Canadian women's hockey team should have acted with more class and been a little more discreet with its celebration. But to do something drastic like ban the team from the Closing Ceremony or force them out of the Olympic Village would be an overreaction. In past Olympics we've seen steroids, political boycotts, cheating and judging scandals. A few puffs of a cigar hardly seems to be in the same league.
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It's time to stop gov't butting in -BC
Published: Tuesday, July 22, 2008
The Province
The march toward outlawing tobacco-smoking continues with the news that the Vancouver parks board is considering banning smoking on city beaches. And the battle lines are already forming -- or should we say fuming? -- over the issue, with the B.C. Lung Association pitted against the B.C. Civil Liberties Association.
Lung Association spokesman Scott McDonald points out that some California beaches already ban smoking, He insists that second-hand smoke is hazardous in any concentration.
McDonald adds that the other big factor is litter:
"People think they're sitting in a giant sand ashtray, and they're flicking their butts wherever."
On the other hand, Civil Liberties spokesman Robert Holmes notes tobacco smoking is a lawful activity, and it doesn't make sense to say people can't engage in it.
Holmes says banning beach smoking contradicts the whole point of having public spaces where people can engage in a wide variety of activities. "If we start banning all of that so that only the prudes and the straight-laced are able to do what they want in the parks, then we'll have come to a rather sad state," he says.
To a large extent, we agree with him. It's getting to the point where there are so many rules governing so many activities that we as a society seem to be strangling ourselves in red tape.
And if we ban smoking on beaches, why not in other public spaces -- such as on the street?
Just because one group dislikes something that another enjoys doing, does it mean we have to have a piece of legislation governing its use?
Also, who is going to enforce all these new laws when we barely have enough police to sort out routine traffic problems?
As we have said before, municipal politicians are elected to do basic things like fix potholes and pick up garbage, not to engage in doubtful experiments in social engineering.
As we've also said, we are not in favour of tobacco smoking. It is an unhealthy addiction -- as unhealthy in many ways as smoking marijuana.
But as long as tobacco remains a legal product in Canada, its use should be limited not by petty legislation, but by courtesy and common sense.
At some point, governments who now profit from the sale of tobacco may move to outlaw it altogether.
In the meantime, we should all learn to have some tolerance of and sympathy toward smokers -- provided, of course, they return the favour.
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Tobacconist squeezed by duelling laws -BC
Published: Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Tom McMillan, Times Colonist
Merchant must choose whether to obey anti-smoking or heritage building law
The owner of a downtown tobacco store is being forced to choose between violating B.C.'s new anti-smoking legislation or paying a $1-million penalty for altering a heritage building.
"It's absolutely ridiculous," said Rick Arora, owner of Old Morris Tobacconists at 116 Government St. "I'm in a position where I cannot win."
In April, provincial legislation took effect that prohibited the public display of tobacco products in stores accessible to people under 19 years of age. Businesses that violate the act face a $575 fine for a first offence, with penalties rising to $5,000 for repeat offences.
"If someone doesn't like this law, whether it's a business owner or the heritage [planner], he will be fined if he doesn't comply," said Diane Stevenson, the Vancouver Island Health Authority's regional manager for tobacco control.
That's bad news for Old Morris Tobacconists, which sells a wide range of tobacco products. As a heritage building, the front of the 116-year-old store has been preserved in its original design, including signs noting the tobacco, house blends and Havana cigars inside.
Though Arora has moved all tobacco products back from the window and prohibited people under 19 from entering the store, heritage building regulations prevent him from completely complying with the health authority.
In a letter sent to Arora, Steve Barber, senior heritage planner with the City of Victoria, called the store's signs "an integral part of the history of this building and part of its heritage character" -- meaning Arora cannot remove or cover them without city approval.
"They've made it clear that I can't touch them," Arora said. "I could be fined $1 million and go to jail for two years."
So far, neither the city nor the health authority is budging. Barber said the city "remains firm" on preserving the original storefront, while the health authority said it is authorized only to enforce the law, not decide when or how it should apply.
In a letter sent to Arora last week, the health authority warned that inspectors will soon begin fining Arora if the signage isn't covered or removed.
"We are getting calls from other businesses asking why they have to comply and others don't," Stevenson said. "It has to be a level playing field."
Desperate, Arora has turned to outside sources for help. Both the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce and the Fairmont Empress hotel have recommended the health authority make an exception for the tobacco store. Roger Soane, general manager of the Empress, said all downtown businesses benefit from tourists attracted by heritage buildings such as Old Morris.
"I'm a huge anti-tobacco person," Soane said. "But some relaxation of regulations should apply to the smoke shop."
If forced, Arora said he will pay the health authority fines levied on his building. However, he's growing frustrated that a compromise isn't being worked out.
"They should have solved the problem by meeting with the heritage branch and myself," Arora said."I didn't want it to come to this."
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Councillor warns against late teen parties
Updated: Sun May. 11 2008 16:37:44
ctvbc.ca
A Vancouver city councillor is warning parents and their teens to stay away from after-hours parties aimed at a younger crowd.
Kim Capri says just because liquor licenses aren't required for parties like "Shower Girls" -- where scantily-clad teens as young as 15 danced in showers -- that doesn't mean they're safe.
"If I were to have a 15-year-old daughter, I'd be deeply concerned if she were present at an event like that," said Vancouver city councillor Kim Capri.
Capri says she voted against granting licenses to after-hours clubs, because they're not as closely monitored as regular nightclubs.
"The after-hours clubs don't have to have ID scanning, and they don't have to have the same knowledge of who's coming into those clubs," said Capri.
"They don't have the ability to say, 'This might be a potential gang member, this is a known sexual predator.' We don't know who is coming into those clubs," she said.
On Saturday, CTV News took a hidden camera to "Shower Girls," an event in downtown Vancouver nightclub Gorg-o-Mish that was marketed at 15 to 21-year-olds and billed as "the naughtiest night of your life."
"Dress sexy and play naughty -- bikinis and lingerie are welcome," read advertisements on the popular social networking site Facebook.
After-hours clubs like Gorg-o-Mish can't have liquor licenses, so the usual rule that keeps children out of bars -- 19 or over -- doesn't apply. There's nothing to prevent them from inviting kids as young as 15.
"There's nothing wrong with it -- it's totally legal," said promoter Shahab Vaziri. "It's a safe environment, monitored, on cameras, there's security there, there's no alcohol and no drugs."
But while allowing young people in is legal, photos from the nightclub appear to show a smoking room in the nightclub, which may be illegal under B.C.'s new smoking laws.
Vaziri said he has heard from upset parents about "Shower Girls," and is re-considering the "Lingerie Night" he had planned for May 23.
"I don't think after this incident we're going to go ahead with that -- we'll change the name and go with a different theme," he said.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Shannon Paterson
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Surrey to crack down on smoking in public places -BC
Published: Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Vancouver Sun
METRO VANCOUVER - Surrey City Council created the toughest anti-smoking restrictions in the region by approving a Surrey Public Health Protection Bylaw to reduce the impact of second-hand smoke in public spaces.
Effective July 31st, this year, Surrey bylaw officers will begin enforcing smoking restrictions within 7.5 m of doors, windows, air intakes and patios in the city while also enforcing a ban on smoking in vehicles with minors, according to a news release. The new By-law will also restrict outdoor patio smoking effective Jan 1, 2009, allowing impacted businesses to adjust their business plans to reflect the expected changes in demand.
"This is an important step towards improving the health and comfort of all of our citizens," said Mayor Dianne Watts. "With what we know about the effects of second-hand smoke, we have a responsibility to protect the health of our residents."
Surrey's 7.5 m separation distance is the distance from a smoker that was recommended by the U.S. Surgeon General and the Fraser Health Advisory Council at its April 3, 2008 meeting. Surrey bylaw officials will be enforcing the new regulations through the use of municipal tickets following a period of public notification. In addition, the regulations include provisions that could lead to the owner of a premises that permit unlawful smoking to be ticketed by bylaw officers.
"Surrey has the highest concentration of youth in the province," said Councillor Mary Martin, Chair of the Mayor's Taskforce on Health Care. "These new regulations are about setting a good example for our youth to protect their health and discourage them from taking up smoking."
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B.C. widens smoking ban, but won't curtail tobacco use in cars with kids
November 28, 2007
VICTORIA - Banning smoking in cars when kids are along for the drive is not happening in British Columbia - at least not yet.
But the province's health minister feels it's a measure that society may eventually "evolve to."
"I'm sympathetic to it," George Abbott said Tuesday after announcing that sweeping new anti-smoking and tobacco retailing regulations will take effect at the end of next March.
He said he has concerns about the risks of second-hand smoke on children riding in cars with smokers and even the poor parental example that sets. But after looking at the proposal he said the government concluded it was not ready to try and regulate behaviour in private cars or in private homes.
"(That) is a pretty big step forward, it may be an appropriate step forward in the future," he said. But he added that he is not sure that society is ready to have government dictate that kind of control.
"It's not a step that I'm prepared to take at this time, but at some point in the future I'm sure we'll evolve to that," he predicted.
After months of consultations following the passage in the spring of amendments to the Tobacco Control Act, Abbott unveiled stricter regulations to curtail the promotion and sale of tobacco products and prohibit smoking in all indoor public spaces and workplaces.
In addition, smoking will be prohibited within three metres of public and workplace doorways, open windows or air intakes.
Abbott said he felt that was most practical limit for what is being called the "buffer zone." There are a few exceptions, however, including licensed community care and assisted living facilities with designated smoking rooms.
And unless prohibited by municipal regulations, smoking will still be allowed on the outdoor patios of restaurants and bars.
On the retail front, tobacco sales will be banned in hospitals and health facilities, universities and colleges, athletic and recreational facilities and provincial government buildings.
Where sales are permitted, tobacco products themselves will need to be hidden from the view of anyone under the age of 19, while outdoor tobacco ads and interior signs are banned entirely.
Originally the government had proposed that the new regulations take effect on Jan. 1, 2008.
But Abbott said there was near unanimous consensus from tobacco retailers and the hospitality sector that the change take place later in the year, not during the hectic holiday season.
Last week an Opposition MLA tabled a private member's bill aimed at making B.C. the first province to institute a ban on smoking in cars if children are aboard.
Nanaimo New Democrat Leonard Krog said his act would protect the health and safety of children by prohibiting smoking in a motor vehicle when persons under the age of 16 are present.
"It's totally complementary legislation," said Krog, whose bill will likely die on the order paper when the fall session wraps up later this week.
He said according the Canadian Cancer Society, one in five Canadian children continues to be exposed to second-hand smoke in vehicles. Every year 1,000 non-smokers die from second-hand smoke.
Krog also pointed to Wolfeville, N.S., the first community in Canada to extinguish smoking in cars on behalf of children.
Abbott said he is aware of the Nova Scotia precedent and will be watching to see whether that bylaw is challenged in the courts.
Meantime, the new regulations only establish minimum provincial standards and landlords, businesses, municipalities and health authorities are being given a free hand to adopt even stricter measures if they deem it necessary.
In November the province's six health authorities announced that effective next October, smoking would be banned on all health facility grounds.
Currently, smoking is permitted in designated smoking areas around health-care buildings that include benches and ashtrays in covered areas. Under the new policy, smoking will be phased out throughout health facility buildings and properties, except where leaving the grounds might pose a safety risk.
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New smoking curbs announced
November 28, 2007
Fiona Anderson, Vancouver Sun
New provincial guidelines will become law at the end of March, giving retailers some time to adjust
New rules about where British Columbians can smoke and how cigarettes may be sold will now come into effect at the end of March to give retailers time to adjust.
The regulations announced Tuesday put in place legislation originally passed last March. It bans smoking in all indoor public spaces and workplaces as well as within three metres of doorways or open windows. Vendors will also be prohibited from displaying tobacco products in places accessible by those under 19 and advertisements on countertops, hanging from ceilings or on outdoor signs will no longer be allowed.
"We are working to reduce tobacco use across our province and ensuring that British Columbians are protected from the deadly effects of second-hand smoke," Health Minister George Abbott said in a news release. "Stricter regulations about public and workplace smoking are part of our strategy to reduce the impact of tobacco on our health system and prevent chronic diseases associated with tobacco use."
Currently about 15 per cent of British Columbians smoke, "and we're going to try to drive that rate down even more," Abbott said. Some day tobacco could even be banned, he said.
In September, new legislation banned tobacco use in schools and on school grounds. Next October, all health authorities will also be required to be smoke-free.
The rules were originally expected to come in force early in 2008, but six weeks of consultation in July convinced the government to give retailers and the hospitality interest a small reprieve.
"The retail sector and the hospitality sector were pretty much universal in saying it would be very difficult for them to make the changes that are going to be required by the regulations during their busiest retail season, which is around Christmas," Abbott said. "So they asked for a modest delay."
Under the provincial regulations, smoking on patios will still be allowed. However, municipalities could choose to impose stricter rules.
fionaanderson@png.canwest.com
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Hookah lounges exempt from bylaw -BC
September 21, 2007
Frances Bula, Vancouver Sun
Vancouver's hookah-parlour owners are celebrating after winning an exemption Thursday from a proposed new bylaw that will ban smoking on most sidewalks in commercial districts, in bus shelters and even in taxis passing through Vancouver.
In giving the bylaw unanimous approval-in-principle, Vancouver city council members bowed to arguments that hookah lounges provide an important cultural space for the city's Muslims and granted them a temporary exemption.
The bylaw, which provides for fines of $100 to $2,000, won't come into effect until the legal department has drafted Thursday's amendments. No firm date for its implementation has been set.
Hamid Mohammadian, operator of the Persian Teahouse on Davie Street, thanked council for the exemption.
"We are very happy because this is our culture. I have one customer, 75 years old, who said 'I will have no other place to go if you close,'" he said.
Mohammadian brought two hookah pipes to show council. They included a 600-year-old model with a ceramic mosaic on the outside, fruit-flavoured tobacco, and charcoal to the meeting to show councillors what was at stake.
Emad Yacoub, who runs five restaurants in Vancouver, also attended Thursday's meeting to ask council to protect hookah lounges.
"I support no smoking on the patios," he said, saying it will make it easier for him since he won't have to settle fights between his smoking and non-smoking customers.
But he said hookah lounges are essential for immigrants from hookah-smoking cultures, because it helps them deal with the depression common for newcomers and gives them places like they have at home.
Unlike other immigrants, they can't go to bars because their religion prohibits them from drinking alcohol.
"I took my cousin there and I only saw a smile on his face when I took him to a hookah lounge because that is what we do back home."
City council also agreed that the city's two cigar shops, which have special smoking rooms, can operate until everyone finds out what the province's new anti-smoking regulations will be.
But Vancouver's planned new bylaw will prohibit smoking in any taxi travelling through Vancouver, even if the driver and all the passengers don't have a problem with it and even if the taxi is licensed in another municipality.
It will also prohibit smoking within six metres of any entryway, window or air intake for a public building, which will effectively ban smoking on most sidewalks in commercial areas, since sidewalks are only three metres wide and doors are often less than six metres apart.
And it will prohibit smoking on restaurant patios and at bus shelters.
The one foggy point in the new bylaw was whether it will apply to crack cocaine and crystal-meth smoking.
One disgruntled speaker, Angela Giannoulis, suggested sarcastically that she hoped the new bylaw would mean she wouldn't have to put up with crack and crystal-meth smokers outside her family's cigar-distribution business in Strathcona, while it forces her employees to go to dangerous alleys to smoke cigarettes and threatens to shut the cigar rooms for her customers.
But health-protection director Domenic Losito said he didn't think so, since the bylaw is aimed at cigarette smoke.
Coun. Suzanne Anton noted the bylaw refers to the smoking of "tobacco or other weed or substance."
Losito said he would have to check with the city's legal department about whether the bylaw will cover non-tobacco products.
Anton and Coun. Tim Stevenson, who are from the city's two main opposing parties, came up jointly with a motion to exempt the hookah lounges and cigar rooms temporarily.
The province is coming up with its own new non-smoking regulations, but they aren't finalized yet and it is unclear whether or not they will cover cigar-store smoking rooms or hookah lounges.
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