Duncan starts public smoking crackdown
Smoke in a public place in Duncan and you will get a warning.
Do it again, and you will get a fine.
The city has launched a public campaign to bring awareness to a new smoking bylaw that came into force within city boundaries in mid-December.
The bylaw prohibits smoking "within substantially enclosed public place or workplace; Within three (3) meters of most public or workplace doorways, open-windows, or air-intakes; In substantially enclosed transit shelters; In common areas of apartment buildings, condominiums and dormitories; On any public and private K-12 school grounds; In motor vehicles when youth under 16 years of age are present; In any public facility, including, but not limited to parks, playgrounds, sports fields, and Duncan City Square).
"The objectives of this bylaw are to protect infants, toddlers, children, persons with disabilities, people suffering illness, people of advanced age and others who are incapable of removing themselves from being exposed to hazardous cigarette chemicals," a media release from the city states. "Each year in Canada, second-hand smoke causes the death of at least 800 non-smokers, due to lung cancer and heart disease."
Tickets will be accompanied by a minimum $100 fine.
"The city's bylaw enforcement officers will begin an awareness campaign advising smokers of the new regulations. Tickets will only be issued if warnings are disregarded," director of corporate services Lynn Ketch stated in the release. "It is hoped that through this awareness campaign that ticketing will not be necessary."
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