We don’t want a smoking ban

Published on Mon, 28 May 2007 3:05 pm

Delegates of the Association of Yukon Communities (AYC) at their annual general meeting, voted in favor of supporting a proposal proposed by Dawson City to endorse the Smoke-Free Places Act.

According to the NDP’s nine-page anti-smoking bill no persons shall smoke in any outdoor place such as buildings and vehicles, the correctional centre, day cares, schools, libraries, churches, health care facilities, movie theatres, pool halls, community halls, stores, restaurants and bars.

Dawson Mayor John Steins said he first suggested the idea to ask the government to draft smoking legislation. In general it was accepted by almost all participants, except for three, Watson Lake, Mayo and Faro.

Steins said he understands why three leaders voted against the proposal: “They were voicing the wishes of their constituents. We can all make a judgment call over whether it was right or wrong but they were doing the right thing in terms of representing their constituents.”

One of those leaders is Faro Mayor, Michelle Vanio that said: “I could not support the anti-smoking law because my constituents did not support it. Most people moved up here to escape southern legislation. Older people don’t want you to tell them what to do.

Another one is Watson Lake Mayor, Nancy Moore, who said: “I couldn’t support the government’s move to have a territory-wide smoking ban either. We voted against it mostly because we haven’t consulted with the community and we have two business owners on council that I would prefer to have their opinion before we voted on it.”

Mayo Mayor Scott Bolton said that: “I don’t support the bill either because residents of my areas prefer to, or have, handled the issue themselves. We fight our own battles. There’s no smoking in Mayo; that’s over, we’ve done it. We haven’t told anybody; it’s not a big deal. You can’t smoke anywhere.

Also he added: "The restaurants did it on their own, the stores did it on their own, Yukon territorial government (YTG) has always had that and the village said no smoking at the new building and in none of our trucks."

“It’s the principle of doing it ourselves; we don’t need YTG for everything,” Bolton said.

It is hard not to agree with the presented arguments of all three states and as Bolton said it is up to every person and society what to do.