The War on Smoking

From - My Choice - Windsor Star- July 31, 2006 - Cigarette ban begins to add up - Health Promotion Minister Jim Watson said he's concerned about the charities in Windsor, but remains optimistic the gaming establishments will bounce back as they have in other regions where municipal anti-smoking bylaws predated the provincial ban. He is less sympathetic towards pub and bar owners. "I think people understand that smoking is not good for you and your health is more important than the almighty dollar," he said.

From - The Windsor Star - July 20, 2006 - Casino Lays Off 329
- Holly Ward, Casino spokeswoman, says the layoffs are a 'last resort' after weeks of declining business. She said the company has seen a 20 to 30 percent decline in business since the smoking ban came into effect.

From - My Choice - Windsor Star- August 1, 2006 - by Nancy Daigneault - Bingo charities hit hard by anti-smoking laws
- Spending $400 million to upgrade the casino will not change the fact that in already tough times, the venue will not be a welcoming one for smokers.

From - My Choice - Charities send out SOS - Windsor Star- August 29, 2006 by David George-Cosh
MPP Sandra Pupatello (Windsor West) says charities are suffering because they've relied on bingos for so long without diversifying their funding sources. "It's been an ongoing battle for years trying to get opportunities for these charities to get access to other money," said Pupatello. (Ms Pupatello went on to become Minister of Education for a few months and is now a minister of something else. This woman is a ladder climber and obviously has no interest in the well being of Windsor or Ontario)

- Watson boasts that tobacco consumption in Ontario had supposedly fallen by 18.7% since 2003. The claim is that 2.6 billion fewer cigarettes were smoked by Ontario residents since McGuinty's election victory. These are figures reported to health officials by manufacturers - legitimate manufacturers. Illegal cigarettes - the RCMP says gunfire is being reported regularly in the area known for its cigarette smuggling across the Akwesasne border. . A September 8 story in the Toronto Sun detailed how police seized 48,000 cartons of bootleg butts; a smuggling turf war story in Cornwall is detailed in a September 4 article; and more than $800,000 worth of illegal cigarettes were seized by the RCMP in Windsor.

- Bob McGuire, executive director of the Windsor Family Forum, said his agency receives 65 to 70 per cent of its budget from bingo revenues and relies on fundraising and some fee-for-service programs to make up the rest. This agency operates at a budget of approximately $150,000, down from 2003 when bingo revenues helped increase its budget to $422,000. That's almost 2/3's down from what it was. How does Ms Pupatello or Messrs Duncan and Watson propose the charities make up that difference? In 2005, bingo halls brought in $19 million for about 650 local charities but factors such the provincial smoking ban have led to an eight per cent drop in attendance and a 20 per cent drop in revenues within the past few months.

- When McGuinty took power in 2003, the so-called cost of smoking to the health care system was in the $1.2 billion dollar range - now it is at $1.7 billion, or $1.9 billion according to one recent statement by Minister Watson. How can our health costs go up so dramatically if all these smokers are banned from using a legal substance? And don't forget that in 2003, the year of McGuinty's victory, bingo revenues were almost three times higher than they are today. This is a government with no shame in supporting extremists, in telling aging veterans what to do in their private clubs, or in forcing its elderly into accepting what is good for them.

- A survey of mychoice.ca members (who now number more than 26,000, including more than 15,000 from Ontario) taken for the submission found: 98.6% opposed bans on open patios and 98.3% oppose bans on protected patios; 86% say banning smoking on covered patios will keep them home more in winter months. Will this have an impact on the local economy? Yes. We are already seeing its effects. The city has joined local charities to ask the province for money in the wake of a once-lucrative bingo industry that has dried up. And council seems more worried about bingos than bars or restaurants. Perhaps rightly so, this should be their main concern, but what about the property tax dollars lost when a bar or restaurant closes its doors?

- Bingos generated $18 million in revenues for charities last year, they will be lucky to take in $9 million this year. Only about 400 of what used to be 1,300 registered charities are still operating bingos. Less than one third. And Ms Pupatello and Messrs Duncan and Watson see nothing wrong with this scenario. The local politicians said the province owes it to the city to throw some money its way in light of the fact that the bingo industry relied heavily on the patronage of U.S. customers, who've stayed away in droves. Hear, hear! But don't hold your breath waiting for help from the government. Like all politicians, those who sit in Toronto soon forget the people who hired them in the first place when they get their snout in the trough. You'll see them again when the next election rolls around and then they'll pray you forget all the promises they lavish on you.

- Over in Quebec, the anti-smoking law coincided with the similar legislation in Ontario, banning smoking in bars, restaurants and other public places. Some claim the ban has gone too far and may even pose a greater danger to health than smoking. Arminda Mota, said the new rules force bar patrons to leave their drinks unattended. "It's dangerous because when you go outside to smoke a cigarette, you can't bring your alcohol outside with you," she said, citing the risk of tampering with GHB, also known as the date-rape drug. Montreal bar owner Peter Sergakis maintains that sending smokers outside during the winter is "clearly a recipe for pneumonia." He claims 75 per cent of the 8,000 bars in the province are suffering from a drop in clientele since the law came into effect. Francois Damphousse of the Non-Smokers Rights Association said, "Regardless of any kind of economic impact that the law might have, the priority here is protecting people from being exposed to tobacco smoke." Typical of those who wish nothing more than to dictate to others what they perceive as being the 'way to enlightenment'.

- When will the lunacy end? Who knows? Can these draconian laws be repealed? Certainly. Will they be? Who knows? Christina Blizzard said it best in her article of Oct. 13, 2006. "Canadians fought repression, fear and intimidation in two world wars." Unfortunately, she went on to say, "We will not tolerate such elements in our midst now." It seems we already have when we let the likes of 'Adolph' McGuinty and 'Benito' Smitherman dictate to us.

- Be afraid, free world. Be very afraid. The inmates are running the asylum.