At the last Coquitlam council meeting, Councillor Robinson motioned to consider a smoking by-law for the City of Coquitlam. Here is the full text of the motion from January 18, 2010:
Whereas 82% of Canadians do not smoke;
And whereas it has long been recognized that second hand smoke contains over 4000 chemicals including 50 known chemicals to cause cancer;
And whereas senior levels of government have taken actions under their respective jurisdictions to protect citizens from second hand smoke such as the Federal governments Non-Smokers Health Act passed in 1988 and recently strengthened in 2007 banning smoking and more recently smoking rooms from their workplaces and the Provincial government recently amended the Motor Vehicle Act to ban smoking in vehicles where a minor (under 16 years of age) is present;
And whereas the Fraser Health Authority supports limiting exposure to second hand smoke;
And whereas smoking restrictions increase the motivation for smokers to quit or cutback, decreases negative role modeling for children, protects the environment and reduces litter;
And whereas direct enforcement from the municipality may not be necessary as experience with outdoor and indoor smoke-free laws has shown that the by-law itself is enough to deter most people from smoking. In addition, peer pressure arising from the common understanding that the space is smoke-free also deters people from smoking:
Therefore be it resolved that the City of Coquitlam develop a ban on smoking on public patios and spaces where minors (under 16 years of age) might be present;
And that the City of Coquitlam invite municipalities in Metro Vancouver that have yet to develop smoking bans to consider such a ban;
And that the City of Coquitlam ask the Province to consider a ban on smoking in all public spaces.
As much as I do not like people who smoke in public places, I believe that this by-law will (a) drive consumers away; and (b) limit the rights and freedoms that are guaranteed under the constitution. I believe that instead of banning smoking from our city, our city council should get the public aware that smoking is bad and try to discourage it.
Although it is going to be discussed today at the Coquitlam Council meeting, please comment what you think about this by-law.
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I hate the smell of cigarette smoke, but I agree that a bylaw such as this would be excessive and would go against our human rights.
Instead of banning all smoking in public places, how about just ban smoking within 10m of doors and air intakes, as is the case at BC universities?
The provincial government already has such law in place that restricts smoking in public space. The provincial law restricts smokers from being within 3 metres of a door and air intake. The same with post secondary institutions except its 10 metres.
The last bit is just silly – meaningless and unenforceable anyway. I find the rest of it a bit odd, really. How will the city determine which patios and public spaces under-16s are likely to be present at? Determined by the owner, by council?
Andy, I’m not sure I can agree with your argument that a smoking ban in some public places, such as patios, qualifies as a breach of the fundamental rights and freedoms of the Charter. While limiting people’s ability to do an action, such as smoking, does entail a restriction of liberty, this is clearly covered by Section 1 of the Charter, in which limits are allowed if they are “reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.”
Banning an action found to detract from public health certainly sounds like a reasonable limit that is justifiable in our society, so I’m not sure that this ban would qualify as a Charter violation.
On your point about driving consumers away, I must admit I fail to see the logic. There will always be, weather permitting, a demand for outdoor dining facilities and a city-wide smoking ban will not change that, merely gurantee that public health is safeguarded at all patios in the city (quality of the food aside!). Furthermore, those who wish to smoke at restaurants are always able to go outside and do so, I doubt many people actually pick the patio because they wish to smoke there.
Though I am generally unsupportive of bans, I do feel that a law like this would be benefitial for the sake of public health and certainly within the purview of a government concerned for the welfare of its citizenry. I would never support a total ban on smoking, but in instances like this, I feel the spirit of the motion is in the right place and think it can do some good.
The City of Coquitlam Council deferred the vote to pass the motion as the city staff are currently generating a report. I will try to get a copy and post it on my website.