91原创

Skip to content

91原创 mother delivers smoking-ban petition to legislature

Naomi Baker submitted the petition to legislature and met with the Housing Minister.
16281600_web1_180829-LAT-Smoking-Ban-3_1
Naomi Baker and (then) three-month-old daughter Faith. 91原创 Advance Times file photo

Nine months after she started a , 91原创鈥檚 Naomi Baker presented the signatures to provincial legislature.

On Thursday, April 4, Baker and her husband were accompanied by 91原创 MLA Mary Polak to deliver the petition and meet with Housing Minister Selina Robinson in Victoria.

READ MORE: 91原创 mom wants smoking ban in multi-unit dwellings

鈥淚t felt great, but I know it鈥檚 not over,鈥 Baker said.

While her , Baker explained the electronic signatures on change.org are not sufficient for legislature.

With that in mind, Baker launched a paper signature petition, and was able to collect 2,200 signatures to present to legislature.

鈥淚 hoped for a good response, but it exceeded what we were expecting to receive. [At legislature] we were able to express a lot of the different scenarios people are in and the challenges they have. It was a positive meeting,鈥 Baker explained.

Baker said ideally she鈥檇 like smoking banned in all multi-unit residential buildings including rental and subsidized units.

She was successful in getting smoking banned in her own strata building in March, after three-quarters of voters chose to ban smoking.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been substantially different since the rule was put in place. It hasn鈥檛 been perfect, but it鈥檚 been substantially reduced,鈥 added Baker.

The petition to ban smoking came after the birth of her ten-month old daughter, Faith.

She and her husband said they have been dealing with second-hand smoke coming into their unit through the walls and fixtures ever since they bought their condo in 91原创 City in 2016.

Her biggest concern with second-hand smoke is health safety.

鈥淣obody has the right to poison someone else. We don鈥檛 have the right in Canada to poison other people. It鈥檚 not tolerated in liquid form, it鈥檚 not tolerated in solid form, but for a long period of time, this gas version has been tolerated.鈥

Baker added she鈥檚 also concerned about renters, because she explained if a rental property decides to go smoke-free, existing tenants who smoke are 鈥榞randfathered,鈥 in.

In the very least, Baker hopes legislation will change to make the default status of buildings non-smoking, with the opportunity for tenants to vote on whether they want a smoke-free building or not.

READ MORE: 91原创 campaign to ban smoking in multi-unit residential buildings bound for legislature





(or

91原创

) document.head.appendChild(flippScript); window.flippxp = window.flippxp || {run: []}; window.flippxp.run.push(function() { window.flippxp.registerSlot("#flipp-ux-slot-ssdaw212", "Black Press Media Standard", 1281409, [312035]); }); }