Vancouver park board votes to ban smoking at playgrounds, beaches, trails

BY ANDREA WOO, VANCOUVER SUN

IAN SMITH, PNG

The Vancouver park board voted unanimously on Monday to ban smoking in public spaces that are under park board jurisdiction - such as beaches, parks and trails.

But smokers still have the summer to indulge their habit, as the ban does not take effect until Sept. 1.

The decision, which drew a round of applause from a crowd of about 30, came after the board heard from more than a dozen registered speakers, including representatives from the Clean Air Coalition, the Canadian Cancer Society and Vancouver Coastal Health.

Many referred to statistics and studies from other cities with smoking bylaws, while some shared personal anecdotes of having to dodge clouds of cigarette smoke, or witnessing children pick up cigarette butts on the beach.

Sera Kirk, an asthma sufferer who has been hospitalized for cigarette smoke inhalation in the past, argued smokers don't have the right to encroach on her enjoyment of public spaces.

"I would just like to sit on a park bench without being bullied out of my seat every 20 minutes, which is what usually happens," Kirk said. "Even if I didn't have asthma, why am I not allowed to just go out and enjoy the fresh air? Nicotine addicts have other ways to get their hit; I only have one way to get air."

Stuart Kreisman, a doctor and endocrinologist with St. Paul's Hospital, said he often has to jog out of the path of cigarette smoke while on the seawall.

"Quite frankly, I'm tired of having multiple daily exposures of second-hand smoke while attempting to exercise in a place that's meant for healthful enjoyment," he said.

Commissioners Raj Hundal, Constance Barnes, Stuart Mackinnon, Ian Robertson and Loretta Woodcock, along with chair Aaron Jasper and vice-chair Sarah Blyth, all threw their support behind the ban based on both health and environmental issues.

"Everything that we've heard from all the professionals just points to the fact that this is the right thing to do," Jasper said. "To see just how dangerous it is to the health of adults, children, people who have respiratory challenges already - I think it would be irresponsible of us to not put public health first.

"I am very, very happy this motion passed," Hundal said. "We had cross-party support on this issue and I am confident that Vancouverites and visitors to Vancouver's parks and beaches will abide by this recommendation from staff."

Several other municipalities now have similar smoking bans, including Abbotsford/Chilliwack, New Westminster, Pitt Meadows, Richmond, West Vancouver, White Rock and Whistler.

In November 2008, White Rock outlawed smoking in all outdoor areas controlled by the city, including parks, playgrounds, trails, the beach, the promenade and the pier, with fines of $100 to $2,000 for transgressors.

Mackinnon expressed concern about enforcement, noting the city already lacks a sufficient number of officers to enforce existing bylaws.

"We have lots of bylaws in this city that aren't enforced," he said, citing littering and picking up after pets as examples. "Without enforcement, this bylaw doesn't have meaning."

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