TORONTO (CP) - Bar and corner-store owners winced while anti-tobacco activists celebrated Wednesday as the Ontario government introduced a provincewide ban on smoking, part of what it considers the toughest anti-tobacco strategy on the continent.
The new Smoke Free Ontario Act would, if passed, prohibit smoking in all workplaces and public places, including bars, restaurants, casinos and legion halls, leaving smokers with a lone indoor refuge: their own homes.
"I look forward to the day when all of us in this chamber can say to the people of this province that Ontario is now smoke-free," Health Minister George Smitherman told the legislature upon introducing the bill.
"We're not there yet, but with the passage of this bill, Ontario would once again be a leader in the battle against tobacco."
The legislation, which would come into effect in May 2006, would also prohibit establishments from permitting smokers to light up on enclosed outdoor patios and in private clubs, and outlaw so-called "designated smoking rooms." Source.
Bookmark mackaycartoons.net
