Targeting apartments

Smokers who live in apartment buildings and condominium units could be the next target of the anti-smoking agenda, says the Thunder Bay District Health Unit’s director of health protection.

Ken Ranta said there have been rumblings about how to treat multi-unit dwellings, where second-hand smoke can inadvertently seep into living spaces of non-smokers.

Ranta’s comments came on Day 2 of national non-smoking week, as he prepared to enter the TBDHU board’s first meeting since the Oct. 25 municipal election.

He added they weren’t specifically going to target apartments or condos – or outdoor events like the annual Thunder Bay Blues Festival – saying instead they’ll let the public guide their next steps.

“It’s not necessarily about smoking within your own facility, but how that impacts hallways and how smoke gets through different parts of the building,” Ranta said.

“It’s a little bit difficult or different because there are so many different types of structures when you look at multi-unit dwellings. There are condominiums, apartments, rooming houses, shared houses and other dwellings. So there isn’t a quick or an easy answer in that area right now, but it is something that landlords and tenants alike have been asking for information on.”

While it might be hard to enact legislation in existing buildings, Ranta said anyone constructing a new building might consider making the facility a non-smoking one, which he said is perfectly legal.

“I don’t think there would be any appetite for someone coming in to say as of today, you can no longer smoke in your home.

“But certain condominiums in Thunder Bay have opportunities where as they’re creating their condominium bylaw that the members of the board can say, ‘We’re going to make this condominium smoke-free.’ Tenants, as they come in, can decide whether or not they can abide by that bylaw whether that suits their lifestyle.”

He spoke before delivering a recommendation to the board to accept the province’s five-year Tobacco Strategy Advisory Group report, which makes suggestions on tobacco advertising and access, package design and cessation opportunities.

The cessation news is good in Northwestern Ontario, but it could be better, Ranta said.
A decade ago, between 26 and 27 per cent of Northwestern Ontarians regularly lit up. Today that number has dropped to about 20 per cent.

“It’s a great reflection of what society in general is doing. If you look at the rates right across North America, you do see that downward trend,” Ranta said. “A lot of people would say 20 per cent is still quite a few smokers. With our population, that’s quite a few people who are still addicted, still make regular use of tobacco products.

“This isn’t a battle that we’re going win overnight. It’s obviously something we want to change in terms of people’s own interests in participating in smoking, taking up smoking as a youth and different opportunities that face them for helping them quit as they move along the path.”

Also at the meeting it was announced Maria Harding would return as board chairwoman and Superior-North EMS chief Norm Gale would serve as vice-chairman.