Up in smoke

Dear sir:
I have been involved and following Dr. Pete Sarsfield and his Northwestern Health Unit in their attempt to ban smoking in all public places for more than a year now.
Last year around this time, Dr. Sarsfield and the health unit were spending a lot of taxpayers’ money with their “postcard campaign.” Instead of allowing for public input by giving a choice on their postcard, people who agreed with banning all public smoking sent their cards in to the health unit, which, in turn, handed them over to the municipal councils.
About 17 percent of the postcards were returned and handed over to the various councils of the district. When Jennifer McKibbon of the health unit came to our council meeting in Alberton to present the cards, she said that 17 percent of cards being returned was a statistically excellent indication that our citizens wanted public smoking banned.
I, personally, thought it could have meant that 83 percent of the citizens were against the ban, and voted against it—twice.
Did I mention that Dr. Sarsfield publicly threatened to sue any municipalities that did not comply with his proposed public smoking ban? I was at a conference last year when Fort Frances CAO Bill Naturkach asked Dr. Sarsfield how much money the Northwestern Health Unit had in its legal fund to sue the municipalities.
He had millions of dollars at his disposal, he replied. Millions! All taxpayers’ money again, of course.
The situation seemed ironic to me. Dr. Sarsfield’s wages are paid by taxpayers, his legal defence fund is taxpayer funded, and who was he going to sue? The taxpayers!
Things didn’t go as Dr. Sarsfield had planned, and only two municipalities—La Vallee and Ear Falls—signed the health unit’s “gold standard” smoking bylaw.
The health unit then changed direction and decided against attacking the municipalities. Instead, it now is trying to force businesses to ban smoking on their premises, or they will be facing a rather hefty fine of $5,000 to $25,000.
Fines of that magnitude could severely cripple a small business, if not bankrupt it.
I applaud business owners such as Robin’s Donuts and the Rainy Lake Hotel in Fort Frances for banning smoking in their restaurants as a decision they made themselves. I also applaud business owners such as the Steinkes of The Bonnie Blue, who admit that fighting the health unit on this issue may put them under.
It was people like this who made this country what it is today—by standing up to tyranny and overcoming it.
Unfortunately, in this case, the small business owners are going to be fighting against an organization that has publicly stated to have millions in legal funds at its disposal. Dr. Sarsfield, himself, told me just last week that it may get very costly if the cases go to court.
Don’t be surprised to read in the paper next year that the Northwestern Health Unit yet again ups its per capita fee collected from area municipalities. After all, it is going to need our money to fight the opposing small businesses in our communities.
I, for one, would rather see the health unit fight the provincial and federal governments to do something about smoking, although it seems to be too much of a challenge, so they bully the little guy.
If you don’t want to see your hard-earned tax dollars being spent bullying our communities’ small businesses, you can try to do something about it. You can voice your concern to your municipal councils as they help foot the health unit’s bill, or write to Mr. John Albanese, Acting Chair, Northwestern Health Unit, 21 Wolsley St., Kenora, Ont., P9N 3W7 and let him and the board know how you feel.
Dr. Sarsfield can be contacted at 1-800-830-5978 and Jennifer McKibbon at 1-800-465-4379.
Remember, Canada is a free country. It is also a country where it is legal for anyone over the age of 19 to smoke tobacco. It also should be a country where you have a choice of whether or not you want to expose yourself to second-hand smoke.
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could make that decision for yourself?
Sincerely,
Bill Morrison Jr.
P.S. These are my personal views, not the views of Alberton council.