Smoke 'em if you got 'em

Nova Scotia's Health Ministry has announced a proposed ban on smoking in all public indoor places in that province by the end of next year.

British Columbia had a similar ban in 1999 as a WCB regulation, which worked fine because it was simple and applied to everyone. Nobody got to smoke, so no one got to take advantage by offering smoking (or not) at their establishments. Misplaced bitching from the hospitality industry (like the bar owners in the North Peace who proposed separating and joining Alberta) saw the ban repealed by the Campbell Liberals and replaced with a complex set of regulations which involved setting aside 30% of the premises for smoking, ensuring that workers spent no more than 10% of their shift in the smoking area, requirements for new ventilation equipment, and varying applicability depending on whether or not municipalities already had smoking legistlation in place.

For Liberal supporters, who are overwhelmingly vocal advocates of smaller government, this came as a little suprising. The Liberals went as far as forming a Task Force in 2001, chaired by (soon to be outgoing) Vancouver-Burrard MLA Lorne Mayencourt. The task force met with a number of bar and restaurant owners who wanted smoking, but hung up on the British Columbia Lung Association, whom Mayencourt referred to as "a special interest group".

Between Vancouver securing the 2010 Winter Olympics and the recent provincial election, Gordon Campbell has tried to portray his government as champions of nutrition and physical fitness. We British Columbians can eat our vegetables, but if some of us still have to put up with a side order of second-hand carcinogens whenever we go out to eat, it's not like anyone should really believe the Liberals pledge to make us healthier.