Dear Tobacco,
We're cornering you in Calgary. Slowly you're being removed from public places. Hopefully sooner rather than later we will not have to worry about accidentally inhaling your smoke as we pass through a public space. I'm happy about that. At least I'll be safer...
Still, our small act is a drop in the ocean when I think of the fact that about one third of 18+ Adults world-wide are smokers. In much of the world non-smoking attitudes are the minority. I can look up the stats to back that up if you like, but you know as well as I do that I'm right.
You're so greedy - I know you'd take more of us if you could.
April 29, 2006
Smoke ban battle heats upBy RICK BELL, CALGARY SUN
Dave Rodney lost the battle but he may soon win the war. The Calgary Conservative MLA who oversees the provincial agency on the attack against addictions, figures a new-look Alberta Tory government, complete with a fresh-out-of-the-box frontman, could nix nicotine in public places as early as spring next year. "Society is ready for it," says Dave, chairman of the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission, who considers the desire for a new law very strong in the cities and getting stronger elsewhere.
"I think as early as next session we could see the Smoke Free Places Act as originally formulated. Why wouldn't we have regulations on a toxic substance, not only for users but for the people around them? We've all known somebody dying of cancer from smoking. If we can see people living healthier, happier and longer then let's get it done.
"This could well be one of the issue leadership candidates will be debating and I wouldn't be surprised if there is a good deal of agreement about the way to go." The Tories pick a replacement for Ralph by year's end. Along with tougher butting-out legislation, Dave says higher taxes on smokes and financial incentives for those getting fit and staying fit may also not be far behind in Toryland.
"Those ideas are warming up and continue to get hotter." For Calgary, a puffing prohibition in public places in 2007, would mean Calgarians won't have to wait until Jan. 1, 2008, to breathe smoke-free in public, a provision already found in many advanced industrialized jurisdictions.
The 2008 date was decided by a gutless majority of city aldermen frightened by certain doomsday mouthpieces in the hospitality industry who predicted Calgary would become something akin to a ghost town if smokers couldn't light up in bars and casinos. Calgary is something of a ghost town socially but such a sad condition isn't about smoking, it's about the workaholic pace of Pleasantville, where you toil until you can do no more and finally plop on a couch, seeking the solace of a rented video. A provincewide ban on smoking in all spots, including bars and casinos, was proposed this time last year and failed. As a rookie Tory MLA from Calgary, Dave (Yes, He Is The Guy Who Climbed Everest Twice) Rodney, attempted to get his Conservative colleagues to back a ban on butts in public areas. To him the proposal seemed a no-brainer.
But, with few exceptions, Dave's fellow Tories, led by a most reluctant Ralph, deep-sixed his designs, only agreeing to force smokers to butt out where kids are allowed. Until there was public outrage, government MLAs wanted to smoke in their own offices. So much for brains. So much for reining in health-care costs. So much for cutting the rate of cancer. Next spring, with a new premier, almost certainly a non-smoking one, Dave's original plan has a real chance to have new life breathed into it, especially with MLAs saying they are intent on controlling medical costs. "It would be a more consistent message if action was more pronounced in every way," says Dave, who found his southwest Calgary constituents overwhelmingly support his stance. He feels it was rural MLAs who heard "loud and clear from a portion of their constituents who just weren't ready." Ray Martin is the NDP MLA who scored a win in the legislature when the ruling Conservatives agreed it would be stupid for a new provincial half-billion buck endowment fund for cancer research to invest in tobacco companies. Ray is on Tory Dave's side on this one, as is the rest of the opposition, the Liberals and Ray's colleagues on the Left. "He would have our full support. If the government wants to deal with cancer rates they must deal with the smoking issue. Last time, Klein didn't want it and no one could beat Klein. But Klein will not be around."
So the politicians ready for battle, once the Conservatives pick their general. As for the smokers who feel their rights are being denied, Dave doesn't blink. "They still have the right to smoke. They just can't smoke everywhere."
We're cornering you in Calgary. Slowly you're being removed from public places. Hopefully sooner rather than later we will not have to worry about accidentally inhaling your smoke as we pass through a public space. I'm happy about that. At least I'll be safer...
Still, our small act is a drop in the ocean when I think of the fact that about one third of 18+ Adults world-wide are smokers. In much of the world non-smoking attitudes are the minority. I can look up the stats to back that up if you like, but you know as well as I do that I'm right.
You're so greedy - I know you'd take more of us if you could.
April 29, 2006
Smoke ban battle heats upBy RICK BELL, CALGARY SUN
Dave Rodney lost the battle but he may soon win the war. The Calgary Conservative MLA who oversees the provincial agency on the attack against addictions, figures a new-look Alberta Tory government, complete with a fresh-out-of-the-box frontman, could nix nicotine in public places as early as spring next year. "Society is ready for it," says Dave, chairman of the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission, who considers the desire for a new law very strong in the cities and getting stronger elsewhere.
"I think as early as next session we could see the Smoke Free Places Act as originally formulated. Why wouldn't we have regulations on a toxic substance, not only for users but for the people around them? We've all known somebody dying of cancer from smoking. If we can see people living healthier, happier and longer then let's get it done.
"This could well be one of the issue leadership candidates will be debating and I wouldn't be surprised if there is a good deal of agreement about the way to go." The Tories pick a replacement for Ralph by year's end. Along with tougher butting-out legislation, Dave says higher taxes on smokes and financial incentives for those getting fit and staying fit may also not be far behind in Toryland.
"Those ideas are warming up and continue to get hotter." For Calgary, a puffing prohibition in public places in 2007, would mean Calgarians won't have to wait until Jan. 1, 2008, to breathe smoke-free in public, a provision already found in many advanced industrialized jurisdictions.
The 2008 date was decided by a gutless majority of city aldermen frightened by certain doomsday mouthpieces in the hospitality industry who predicted Calgary would become something akin to a ghost town if smokers couldn't light up in bars and casinos. Calgary is something of a ghost town socially but such a sad condition isn't about smoking, it's about the workaholic pace of Pleasantville, where you toil until you can do no more and finally plop on a couch, seeking the solace of a rented video. A provincewide ban on smoking in all spots, including bars and casinos, was proposed this time last year and failed. As a rookie Tory MLA from Calgary, Dave (Yes, He Is The Guy Who Climbed Everest Twice) Rodney, attempted to get his Conservative colleagues to back a ban on butts in public areas. To him the proposal seemed a no-brainer.
But, with few exceptions, Dave's fellow Tories, led by a most reluctant Ralph, deep-sixed his designs, only agreeing to force smokers to butt out where kids are allowed. Until there was public outrage, government MLAs wanted to smoke in their own offices. So much for brains. So much for reining in health-care costs. So much for cutting the rate of cancer. Next spring, with a new premier, almost certainly a non-smoking one, Dave's original plan has a real chance to have new life breathed into it, especially with MLAs saying they are intent on controlling medical costs. "It would be a more consistent message if action was more pronounced in every way," says Dave, who found his southwest Calgary constituents overwhelmingly support his stance. He feels it was rural MLAs who heard "loud and clear from a portion of their constituents who just weren't ready." Ray Martin is the NDP MLA who scored a win in the legislature when the ruling Conservatives agreed it would be stupid for a new provincial half-billion buck endowment fund for cancer research to invest in tobacco companies. Ray is on Tory Dave's side on this one, as is the rest of the opposition, the Liberals and Ray's colleagues on the Left. "He would have our full support. If the government wants to deal with cancer rates they must deal with the smoking issue. Last time, Klein didn't want it and no one could beat Klein. But Klein will not be around."
So the politicians ready for battle, once the Conservatives pick their general. As for the smokers who feel their rights are being denied, Dave doesn't blink. "They still have the right to smoke. They just can't smoke everywhere."
posted by Rea at
8:05 p.m.
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