Proposed smoking ban exception has cancer society concerned

City staff have proposed allowing smoking in public places during performances

Prince George city council passed first three readings of a bylaw amendment that would allow smoking or vaping in public facilities as long as it’s part of an artistic performance at its Monday, July 6 meeting, but the Canadian Cancer Society is hoping to change its mind before fourth and final reading is debated. Under current city rules, smoking and vaping at all places of public assembly and city-owned facilities is strictly prohibited under the Smoke and Vape Free Places Bylaw. A report by city staff said that exemptions are sometimes requested for the purposes of artistic performances, like stage shows or the filming of television shows or movies.

Some communities in BC like Burnaby, Port Coquitlam and Delta allow for such exemptions. Administration proposed allowing an artistic exemption, as long as productions get explicit written permission from the city’s manager of bylaw services ahead of time. As an example, director of administrative services Eric Depenau noted that some period pieces like the tv show Peaky Blinders have characters smoke to mirror the social norms of the era being portrayed.

Depenau also clarified that provincial legislation prohibits tobacco smoking outright at public facilities, meaning that performances would feature herbal cigarettes. After council passed first three readings of the bylaw amendment, Ottawa-based Canadian Cancer Society senior policy analyst Rob Cunningham reached out to The Citizen to express his organization’s concerns with the move. “We have worked for so long to have smoke-free public places and if you allow real smoking, it means that there will be people in the community who will not be able to attend,” Cunningham said.

“People with certain respiratory conditions or cardiovascular conditions or asthma ... that could include children depending on the nature of the play and women who are expecting a baby and don’t want their children to be exposed to second-hand smoke.” No matter the contents of a cigarette — whether it’s herbs, tobacco or cannabis — Cunningham said the second-hand smoke can be harmful. While there are communities that allow for artistic smoking exemptions, he noted that they represent a small percentage of the provincial population.

On top of the health risks, he said portraying realistic smoking can influence youth. “We’ve heard a lot of how there has been a resurgence in social media repopularizing smoking,” he said.” We shouldn’t be doing that in our communities.”

Cunningham said it seemed there had been requests for exemptions from the theatre community in Prince George judging by staff’s report, he encouraged the city to carry out public consultation before granting final approval given the broader public interest for such a change. “In a play, you can’t fire a gun for real,” Cunningham said. “So, you can have an imitation cigarette or you can have an unlit cigarette or you can have a device that looks like a cigarette that event lights up red at the end.”