Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Toronto’s Board of Health wants to License Hookah lounges and Ban Patio Smoking?



As a non-smoker myself, I disagree with the chair of Toronto’s public health committee, a political anti-tobacco activist's with a personal political agenda at the expense and rights to the fundamental freedoms of Torontonians.
Including freedom of assembly, association, and other means of communication as guaranteed under our Canadian charter of rights.
This committee on the one hand for purely political reason continues its attempts to appease anti-smoking groups a major growth industry that has accomplished all of the reasonable and rational measures which the science can support.
Then on the other for solely monetary reasons seeks to license water pipe hookah patios and lounges?
The city’s Board of Health should and must stick to the health and safety issues mandated by the province for which the city receives 100% reimbursement.

Until such time as the province of Ontario mandates that smoking be banned on all restaurant patios throughout the province it is a not a health issue but rather a political one.

 

While anti-smoking groups thanks to their political allies have become a growth lobbying industry they must continually keep up the political pressure for more draconian legislation that takes away the rights of their fellow citizens in order to obtain funding and thus keep their jobs.
Society is well aware of the enormous monetary and political pressures faced by public health units and scientists whose financing to a great extent are controlled in large part by eliminates by special interest groups, lobbyists and unelected bureaucrats.
Perhaps that is why we have recently and continue to witness the abuse of scientific integrity through an unfortunate generation of faulty and questionable scientific outcomes in a number of prevalent issues pertaining to the environment and health issues through mischievous statistical acts and findings.
Yes, smoking is harmful and so is the elimination of the individual’s fundamental freedoms of choice, association, and assembly by other means of communication.
Other Stories:

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1278818--dimanno-toronto-s-choke-out-for-smokers-escalates


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Thanks for your thoughts, comments and opinions, will be in touch. Peter Clarke