Butt outt

The Ontario Liberals have finally kept an election promise...

Today they passed what is being called the "most aggressive anti-tobacco legislation in North America." As of June 2006, you and I will be able to breathe easy in every indoor public and workplace in the province. I can't wait (yes, I find happiness in the little things).

For those of us in Toronto and the GTA this news isn't that groundbreaking as there have been smoking bans in restaurants here for years and in bars/clubs for about a year, but there are municipalities in northern and southwestern Ontario that would have never, ever gone smoke free on their own. Where the member of provincial parliament say things like "the jury is still out on the effects of second hand smoke", where hundreds of tobacco farmers are still the backbone of the local economy and where they still had those little metal ashtrays at the local Mcburger joint just two and a half years ago (remember those? I hadn't seen them since I was a kid).

Don't get me wrong, I (kinda) feel for the tobacco farmers who are losing their livelihood as the number of people lighting up goes down and for the small business owner who is losing business at his bar, but the benefits of this law outweight any negatives. The benefits for restaurant employees, asthmatics, people allergic to smoke, and everyone else that hates coming home smelling like an ashtray after a night out. Not to mention the laundry list of health problems related to second hand smoke...

Shame on those six MPPs who voted against it...