British Columbia to ban smoking in cars carrying children
Smoking in cars when children are inside will be banned, and all schools and restaurants will be trans-fat-free within two years in British Columbia, the provincial government said in its key annual policy statement.
The throne speech, which comes one week before the province's budget outlines the government's spending plans for the upcoming year, was focused on personal responsibility and health initiatives as the Liberal government heads into its half term in office. Last year the government set ambitious goals laying out the most aggressive greenhouse gas reduction plans in North America. The speech this year addressed how people could get involved in the government's goal to reduce emissions by 33 per cent within 12 years.
Premier Gordon Campbell said yesterday it was up to British Columbians to lead on global warming.
'There are people that say we should do nothing until everybody is doing something,' he said after the throne speech was read in the legislature. It is people who cause global warming and it is people who must act to stop it,' said Lieutenant Governor Steven Point. 'Taking refuge in the status quo because others refuse to change is not the answer.'
The government's ban on smoking in cars with children inside will be the first province-wide ban in Canada. Last December the ban was adopted in a town in Nova Scotia. British Columbia's ban follows similar legislation enacted in California by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The province's plan to ban trans-fats in restaurants and schools also makes the province the most anti-trans-fat jurisdiction in the country.
Scientists have linked the hydrogenated cooking oil, once thought to be a cheaper, healthier substitute for butter and lard, to clogged arteries, heart disease and obesity. Companies and restaurants have rushed to declare their products free of trans-fat, changing the oil previously used in everything from doughnuts to french fries and other greasy foods.
A parliamentary taskforce in Canada has called on the federal government to force mandatory reduction of trans-fat and Canadian food companies are voluntarily compiling.
In Calgary, the city plans to ban trans-fat in restaurants this year. But British Columbia's ban will be province-wide.
