MONTREAL – After agreeing that city parks, restaurants and museums are making it increasingly difficult for Montrealers to light up cigarettes without moral hesitation, the Montreal City Council has voted to ban urban social areas in close proximity to smokers.
Members of the council passed the bill, entitled the Freedom of Smoking Act, with an overwhelming majority, sending a clear message to everyone that they will not be oppressed by the “ubiquity of urban spaces.”
“These public places are breeding grounds for families trying to enjoy the fresh air, which of course is a big hindrance to smokers,” said Montreal interim mayor Laurent Blanchard. “We just want to enjoy our cigarettes, not worry about whether second hand smoke is drifting into a nearby infant’s lung.”
Debate about the Freedom of Smoking Act came shortly after l’Hotel Dieu de Montreal reported an unprecedented influx of smokers with symptoms of withdrawal attributed to “too many damn asthmatics and expectant mothers in the way.”
The decision to pass the bill was unsurprising, since smokers have long asserted their dominance over public places by enveloping them with cigarette butts.
At press time, the province of Alberta had banned First Nations’ communities near oil reserves.
