Naomi Baker thinks it乌鸦传媒檚 fine that the provincial government declared the last week in June to be 乌鸦传媒淪moke-Free Multi-Unit Housing乌鸦传媒� week, but it would be even better if the government actually did something about the issue.

乌鸦传媒淭hat乌鸦传媒檚 [declaring a week] different than having legislation passed,乌鸦传媒� observed Baker, the Langley mom who waged a nearly three-year battle to make her condominium a smoke-free building.

乌鸦传媒淲e fought really tenaciously, and it took a lot to get it to pass.乌鸦传媒�

She was reacting to a call by the Clean Air Coalition of BC, which includes the B.C. Lung Association, Heart and Stroke Foundation, and Canadian Cancer Society, for provincial action during the week to make it easier to ban smoking.

After her daughter, Faith, was born, Baker fought to stop second-hand smoke leaking into their unit through the walls and fixtures, setting up an and also .

In April, Baker and her husband delivered a petition for stronger anti-smoking rules to provincial housing minister Selina Robinson in Victoria.

Robinson seemed receptive, Baker said, but she is still waiting to hear more.

乌鸦传媒淚 don乌鸦传媒檛 have an update as to how [the rules would be changed],乌鸦传媒� Baker said.

Whatever sort of regulation emerges, Baker stressed, it shouldn乌鸦传媒檛 allow smoking even when a majority of people in a multi-unit building support it.

乌鸦传媒淣inety-nine per cent can乌鸦传媒檛 decide that the one per cent has to suck it up and die of second-hand-smoke,乌鸦传媒� Baker commented.

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Coalition spokesperson Jack Boomer declared existing regulations make it 乌鸦传媒渆xtraordinarily difficult, time-consuming, costly, and seldom effective for residents, strata management, and landlords, to effect change on their own.乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淲e need government intervention,乌鸦传媒� Bommer maintained.

乌鸦传媒淐reation of more 100 per cent smoke-free multi-unit housing options should be a health promotion priority.乌鸦传媒�

Boomer repeated the coalition call for 乌鸦传媒減ractical, positive change乌鸦传媒� pointing to recommendations outlined in a coalition-sponsored report released in 2016.

One of the Coalition乌鸦传媒檚 recommendations includes making it possible, under BC乌鸦传媒檚 Residential Tenancy Act (RTA), for landlords to implement premises-wide no smoking policies that apply to all tenants, with no grandfathering requirements.

Tenants who smoke would be given six months to comply.

The Coalition report also recommends all new strata buildings should be automatically smoke-free, as opposed to current regulations which requires 75 per cent of owners to approve a ban.

One in two British Columbians live in multi-unit dwellings, and given the high cost of housing, and our aging population, the proportion of people living one atop and aside one another will continue to grow, Boomer estimated.

.

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Email: dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.com

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