Anti-smoking lobbyists are polling election candidates in Sylvan Lake on whether they would support a bylaw banning smoking in municipal parks and playgrounds.
Vote For Health, a campaign organized by the Canadian Cancer Society’s Alberta and Northwest Territories Division, has sent surveys to all 15 candidates: the three people running for mayor and 12 running for the six seats on council.
Candidates have been given until Friday to respond, said Gail Foreman, local spokesperson for Action on Smoking and Health.
Foreman said on Wednesday that she hasn’t heard how many candidates have responded so far or how they have answered the question. She anticipates that the Canadian Cancer Society will release results as soon as possible after the deadline has passed.
Members of the Central Alberta Tobacco Reduction Coalition met with the mayor and council during a committee meeting in April.
There was discussion of the issue and a number of ideas were expressed, but there was no formal motion at that time, said Archie Grover, interim chief administrative officer for the town.
Vote For Health surveyed Sylvan Lake candidates as a follow-up to the spring meeting, said Foreman. The Oct. 1 deadline was set so that voters could see results in time to make decisions on which candidates to support during municipal elections, set for Oct. 18, she said.
Members of the coalition cite a number of reasons for suggesting the ban in a news release from the Canadian Cancer Society. They include the environmental impact of discarded packaging and hundreds of thousands of cigarette butts tossed on the ground, the perpetuation of smoking as a social norm and exposure to second-hand smoke.
Smoking restrictions affecting areas like public parks and playgrounds creates positive health messages and helps reduce uptake of tobacco among youth, the Cancer Society says in its press release.
Earlier this week, the Campaign for a Smoke-Free Alberta announced a significant decrease in smoking rates among Albertans aged 15 and up.
Data for 2009 gathered by Health Canada indicates that Alberta’s smoking rate is now on par with the national average of 18 per cent. Throughout the province, there were 57,000 fewer smokers in 2009 than in 2007.
Health Canada has conducted the Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey every year since 1999.
bkossowan@www.reddeeradvocate.com