TOBACCO
NEWS FROM CANADA August 2003 Comments by Warren Klass Dateline-Winnipeg, Manitoba
If I thought for one second that this was not a farce with all the suspense of a Stalin show trial, I would of course register. I am under no illusions that irregardless of anything I might say or any evidence I present will make one iota of difference to this farce. Lets face facts. THE FIX IS IN. "Today's NDP" was re-elected with a majority. I got my start at Forces by testifying a few years ago at one of the City of Winnipeg hearings on a smoking ban. I was interviewed on CBC Radio and by TV's the A channel. I skipped the last round of hearings at Loserpeg City Council because I knew the fix was in, as it is undoubtedly now. However, if fellow Manitobans feel that my presence may help I will register, to make an appearance. If you are in Manitoba please contact me to let me know your feelings. You can call me at(204)488-1346 or e-mail me at warren.klass@3web.net . I have received a few e-mails about the Sept.1 smoking ban in Loserpeg. To quote William Randolph Hearst: "Go west young man." I suggest smokers start heading west to Headingly on Sept.1. There is apparently a new Sals, Nicks Inn, and a bar in Headingly. East of Loserpeg, the only place that comes readily to mind is the Sals at Deacon's corner, just past Southdale on #1 East. If anyone is conversant on where you can smoke outside the perimiter, please contact me and I'll post locations. I hope I'm wrong, but soon, I think I'll be advising Manitobans to go to North Dakota or Minnesota to have a cigarette in civilized surroundings. Dateline-Edmonton, Alberta
Once again there is all kinds of news out of Edmonton. This time at least it has nothing to do with the AA Club Keep It Simple. Most of the news involves Indians and smoking. I mean no disrespect by referring to them as Indians. I'm not sure if Native or First Nation is the more polite term. Tuesday's Edmonton Journal ran an article on Indians and smoking. Ordinarily this would have a limited audience but because of Natives promise to build a smoker-friendly casino complex just outside Edmonton city limits, the issue takes on more than an esoteric interest. Chief Ron Morin told the Edmonton Journal that smoking is a big part of First Nation Culture. No kidding. Although the Edmonton Journal managed to find a couple of highly paid Native anti-smoking PARASITES to go on record stating that smoking a peace pipe is not the same as chain smoking Marlboros. Lets not kid ourselves. A big part Canada's anti-smoking campaign is thinly veiled racism-although no one will go on record admitting it. In Alberta for example 63%of natives smoke vs. 28% of the population. Anti-smoking is one of these issues where class and race intersect. Anti-smoking is a wonderful pretext for the Canadian elite to exclude and punish the non-white and poor-under the usual phony pretexts. By the way this is not something new. Nazi anti-smoking campaigns attempted to de-normalize smokers as: "Jews, Indians, Africans, loose women and decadent intellectuals." "To the Red Man, the Pipe of Chiefs symbolizes what the Magna Carta and the Ark of the Covenant stand for with other races." Assinboine Chief Dan Kennedy,1939 "Whenever men casually assembled they passed a pipe among themselves. Smoking connotes a friendly and equitable relationship among the participants and was universal to all social intercourse." Anthropologist David Mendlebaum, The Plains Cree,1940. This stuff is not merely first or second year Sociology, but rather goes to the heart of the issue of Indian gaming in Alberta. Is smoking an integral part of First Nation culture as Chief Ron Morin maintains or are the Indians playing games to try to lure smokers to a hospitality venue to get around and subvert Edmonton's smoking ban? Make no mistake the stakes are huge. The Cree Nation according to Tuesday's Gambling Magazine is planning a $127 million hotel, sports, and entertainment complex. The Cree, whether the motivation is cultural or merely mercantile have made it clear that smokers will be accomodated. According to Gambling Magazine some 50%of Edmonton gamblers are smokers. The existing Edmonton casinos are staring at a 2005 smoking ban-unless voters send Mayor Bill Smith and some prize packages on city council packing. Despite the public posturing, Smith is worried that the Cree complex will siphon off a huge portion of Edmonton's casino going clientele. Thus Smith is dragging his feet in allowing police, fire, and sewage to be extended to the Cree. The Courts so far have sided with the Cree. Stay tuned. This promises to stay interesting. Also in Edmonton, we have the latest cause celebre of the anti-smoking nuts. The self-extinguishing cigarettes. Yesterday it was Gar Mahoodlum and his Taliban Vice and Virtue Committee (Non-Smokers Rights Association), in the National Post. Today its Less Hagen of ASH, (Action on Smoking and Health) another group of taxpayer funded PARASITES in Mindelle Jacobs column in the Edmonton Sun. Yesterday in the National Post it was 40 deaths over 3 years, today in Mindelle's column it is 70 deaths a year. What's 40 or 70 deaths, when they never fail to tell us "smoking causes 45,000 premature smoking related deaths a year?"(45,000 computer generated deaths of those whose average age ranges from 77 to 78) The numbers are not important its the pretext that counts. I happen to like Mindelle and have corresponded with her in the
past. However,I don't think she is much of either a writer or a thinker. She
blabs on incessantly about the carcinogens in cigarettes but endlessly champions marijuana
as "harmless." B.C. Bud contains 10-20 times the carcinogens of cigarettes. The basic encapsulation of her thinking goes As I stated these self-extinguishing cigarettes are merely a new pretext to torment smokers. Mindelle says as much: "If smokers get frustrated at having to re-light self-extinguishing cigarettes, who cares? "Maybe they'll butt out for good." Here's some advice Mindelle: roll yourself a few doobies of B.C.Bud, full of tons of tar and carcinogens and toke deeply. You never tire of telling readers its "harmless." It will mellow you out so you won't go through life sounding like a frustrated, middle-aged, hateful bitch. Maybe then you'll butt out of our lives for good. Also in Edmonton the CBC is reporting Wednesday that the Alberta Legislature has exempted itself from Edmonton's anti-smoking laws. I'm shocked-shocked that this ordinance exempts the powerful. Dateline-Halifax, Nova Scotia
Thus I am delighted to report that the Halifax Herald in Wednesday's edition is reporting that Cape Breton smokers have developed some backbone. The Herald is reporting "widespread" non-compliance of the anti-smoking bylaw. Thank You Cape Bretoners. Dateline-Montreal, Quebec
Le Journal de Montreal on Sunday carried an interview with Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone. Apparently, in the latest twist, the Feds offered Formula One a one year exemption on tobacco company sponsorship. Ecclestone turned down the offer. Either the Feds grant a permanent exemption or the race leaves Montreal. None of the three cars with tobacco names sell their brands in Canada anyway. Marlboro and Lucky Strike or whatever its called cannot contaminate susceptible, impressionable youth in Canada. Just to show how ridiculously hypocritical this whole thing is-why no outcry about beer or alcohol sponsorships? The Montreal Allouettes football team are walking advertisements for Molson beer. The CFL receives millions in sponsorship money from Labatts Brewery. Montreal stands to lose 300,000 tourists and at least an $80 million injection if this lunacy is allowed to proceed. Vive le Quebec. Vive le Quebec libre. Dateline Chatham/London, Ontario
A couple of years ago before the gay marriage business, there was another group in Canada who wanted to make A BIG EXISTENTIAL STATEMENT. In this case it was a bunch of broads with too much time on their hands who claimed the constitutional right to go topless. This being Canada, the dumping ground for Liberal Party hacks and bagmen-the Canadian Judiciary-agreed that allowing men but not women go topless was an infringement of their rights. The odd nutcase broad exercised this right. But like all expressionist movements the public got bored quickly, and aesthetics if not common sense prevailed-until the Chatham smoking ban. It seems that strippers, or "exotic dancers" or whatever they preferred to be called are not allowed to smoke in Chatham strip clubs. So they decided to go outside topless to have their cigarette. They cannot be charged with obscenity because the courts have granted Canadian women the right to walk around topless. Apparently this titillating spectacle has led to many complaints from Chatham bluenoses. Its too bad the real boobs on Chatham city council never considered this before the anti-smoking bylaw was imposed. The young correspondent also confirmed what Forces Canada has been reporting about the London patio scene booming while indoor venues are empty. At Barney's the patio was full on Saturday night, while indoors it was empty. Next door at Ceeps there were no more than 20 people inside. Before the smoking ban the place was always packed. Dateline-Toronto, Ontario
What could Gar and the Taliban do for an encore? Would you believe self-extinguishing cigarettes. Gar wants Dreamboat Annie McLellan and Health Canada (for those of you who missed it a couple of weeks ago in Forces Canada, Health Canada recommended an anal suppository to consume marijuana) to mandate cigarettes that don't burn when not smoked. The busybodies in New York State (the state with a smoking ban, cellphone bans in cars and public places, extra taxes on pop and snack foods to create a whole new lifestyle parasite class) passed such a law but it has not been implemented. Do you know why? Because the technology does not yet exist. Freud once said that even paranoids have real enemies. I have to wonder about the real agenda of Gar. By their own admission, fires from burning cigarettes killed 40 people in the last THREE years. I'd be surprised if 40 people are not gunned down in a three week period in Toronto. 40 people over 3 years for Gar is peanuts. Doesn't Gar ever tire of telling us that cigarettes kill 45,000 Canadians a year? These 45,000 by the way are computer generated statistical estimates. The average age for these "45,000 premature deaths" is between 77-78.This is base lined against 7th Day Adventists whose life expectancy is 79. This wouldn't have anything to do with spiking cigarettes with deadly fire retardant chemicals, would it? Monday's L.A. Times by co-incidence had a front page story Monday about the health effects of some of these fire retardant chemicals. It seems that many of these fire retardant chemicals put into furniture are more dangerous and kill more people than the fires they are supposed to prevent. Gar's agenda wouldn't have anything to do with putting this garbage into cigarettes to poison recalcitrant sinners, would it? I confess I just tuned into the L.A. Times to read about the recall. If I could vote I would cast my ballot for the very bodacious Angelyne or Porn star Mary Carey, only because Shirley McLean and her 150 previous lives are not running for Governor. Dateline-Vancouver, B.C.
Monday's Grope and Flail informed readers in great detail that the homes of the very rich in Kelowna were destroyed. Not a word was of course uttered about the poor who don't have insurance. But what would one expect from the Grope and Flail? Turning to the opinion page, the column by rabid anti-smoker Paul
Sullivan appears. The Grope and Flail gives Paul a column for a western perspective. As I stated before Paul Sullivan's columns could be written
from the corner of King and Bay for all their western perspective. But at
least this one was ostensibly supposed to be about the forest fires, but "One guy thrown off the Grind was smoking, which only proves that stupidity is at least as hard to combat as wildfire. "On Wednesday, the day the city posted No Smoking signs in Stanley Park, I ran past an alarmingly pierced young woman who was nonchalantly harvesting blackberries from a deep thicket, a cigarette dangling artfully in her other hand, the ash falling to the bone dry ground. "Driving through Stanley Park Causeway smokers still use the world as their ashtray to prevent skunking up their Lexusus (Lexi), apparantly unmoved by the example of the poor fool from Barriere who threw a butt to the ground and burned down the town." And dumber. In Monday's Calgary Sun "Columnist" Bill "The Mensa" Kauffman could not pass up a chance to make a cheap tired point. Here is Mensa Bill's cheap exploitation of a sad, tragic, careless mistake: "Just as we didn't need another reason to know smoking is injurious to health, along comes Mike Barre, whose butt-flinging antics sparked B.C's Barriere fire, wiping out much of the town. The second-hand smoke has been visible as far away as Calgary. "But defenders of the indispensable tobacco industry insist we can all take comfort in knowing its a legal product." How Mensa Bill can differentiate the Barrier fire from the other 824 fires, caused by lightning burning in B.C.is anybody's guess. For the record both the Grope and Flail's Paul Sullivan and the Calgary Sun's Bill "The Mensa" Kauffman are loud, regular proponents of marijuana legalization. Lets assume it was a stoner's joint that caused one of the 825 forest fires in B.C-this is hardly farfetched as at least twice, if not 3 times as many people smoke pot as cigarettes in B.C-would Canada's answer to Dumb and Dumber have taken cheap shots at all pot smokers? Yeah,sure. Dateline-Edmonton, Alberta
Keep It Simple has been granted a temporary reprieve one day after Alberta Premier Ralph Klein spoke up for Keep It Simple. Premier Klein is himself a recovering alcoholic and a smoker. Thursday the CBC was reporting that Keep It Simple would not have an exemption, despite the intervention of Premier Klein. On Friday, however, the Edmonton Journal was reporting that Keep It Simple would have an exemption to allow smoking. Here is what Premier Klein told the CBC: "Edmonton should have a stupid rules committee. To my knowledge, smoking has never broken up marriages, has never caused people to act in a stupid manner. Therefore, my personal opinion, this restaurant should be exempt to say the least." Dateline-Calgary, Alberta
The Calgary Sun profiled two businesses that have seen a 50% drop in business because of the patio smoking ban. This is indicative of what is happening throughout Calgary. The profiled businesses were: Maureen Foster's Trappers Pub and Grill at 3919 Richmond Rd. S.W. where two summer staff were laid off because of the smoking ban, and Dianne Taylor's Ship and Anchor Pub at 534 17 Avenue S.W. Dateline-Fredricton, New Brunswick
"Absolutely its hurting our business, every one of us. We're losing some of our clientele to people staying home, people going to private clubs, people going to bars that are ignoring the bylaws. Its all about business to us." Another one of the 15,Luc Erjanec told the CBC a total ban would be unfair. Mr.Erjanec said: "You often hear from people saying 'Lets have a ban. Oh its a level playing field.' Nothing could be further from the truth. An establishment that has 5 per cent smokers is less impacted than a place that has 80 or 90 per cent smokers. So the impacts are not the same." No kidding. Forces Canada has long brought out the fact that the "Level playing field" nonsense from the anti-smoking nuts is anything but a "level playing field." One of the great propaganda ploys of the anti-smoking nuts (led by University of Toronto spinmeister Prof. Roberta Ference) is to blab incessantly about how there is" no overall loss of business" after smoking bans-or when the evidence is too overwhelming for even the MORONS IN THE CANADIAN MEDIA to ignore-blame a local plant closure or September 11.What the anti-smoking nuts do is use "Meta-statistics"-Junk statistics 101.Fast food and take out revenues, which often spike after smoking bans are blended with plummeting traditional sit-down restaurants, in Blue-collar areas. Voila! "No overall loss of revenue" is spun to the MORONS IN THE CANADIAN MEDIA. Dateline-London, Ontario
Lets put aside for a moment that the London Free Press, like much of the Canadian media spends an inordinate amount of ink pushing for gay marriage. This is about "tolerance" blah, blah, blah. Personally speaking, rather than being about" Tolerance" this strikes me as being about a handful of post adolescent expressionists who want to make A BIG EXISTENTIAL STATEMENT. But I can just imagine how long Jamie Vandermoron would be employed by the London Free Press or any other media outlet in Canada if he compared Homosexuals or anyone else other than smokers, to cockroaches. A couple of weeks ago, I reported that the London patio scene was booming, while indoor venues were empty, based on the observation of a young correspondent from London. Jamie Vandermoron supplied the confirmation of this young fellow's observation. To the young correspondent-a faithful Forces Canada reader-if you want a letter of recommendation for the University of Western Ontario's Journalism school, I'd be delighted to write you one. At least one bar in London is planning a year round outdoor patio. Witts end at 235 North Center Road is being outfitted with canopies and heaters for the winter. Other bars are likely to follow. Outdoor patios have become the growth industry in London since the smoking ban was imposed. Barking Frog at 209 John St. has opened a multi-level patio. Staff at Jim Bob Ray's at 595 Richmond St. were quoted as saying: "The patio really saved things around here." Other patios mentioned include: Roxbury, Last Drop, Tiger Jack's, Kopelli's,the West End, and the Wick. It seems that even non-smokers are following smokers out on the patio because its a happening place. And here I thought the real purpose of smoking bans was to "De-normalize", stigmatize, and segregate smokers. Dateline-Vancouver, B.C
After the story hit the Grope and Flail, I contacted two regular sources of information in Vancouver. Pat Hagen, the former President of Forces Canada, and a fellow who is a regular invaluable contributor to Forces Canada. Trying to get a straight answer about anything happening in British Kookafornia is like trying to get a straight answer from Revenue Canada-ask the same question 500 times and you'll get 500 different answers. The regular contributor e-mailed me that to the best of his knowledge smoking was "Temporarily" banned in Stanley Park. Pat first e-mailed me that according to the Vancouver Province newspaper, "Hikers" were banned from the lower mainland trails, but not Stanley Park. Then in a follow-up e-mail, Pat informed me that "Hikers" were banned in Stanley Park. Pat e-mailed me yet another story from a local Surrey paper that discussed smoking bans in Surrey and Delta parks. The regular contributor sent me something from Victoria's Times Colonialist. Who knows what's going on there? There is some question whether those banning smoking in parks have the jurisdiction. These are apparently "Temporary" bans, or "Educational", but not legal bans. Apparently the Grope and Mail was correct-it would be impossible to enforce a smoking ban, so hiking is now banned. Stay tuned to Forces Canada for further updates. As a public service announcement, whether there is or is not a smoking ban in Stanley Park, Forces Canada urges all smokers to be careful to put out burning cigarettes. Since this is Vancouver, Forces Canada extends this public service message to Vancouver's legions of pot smokers- Hey man, like put out the joint, after you finish toking, ok. Like forest fires are a real bummer, man. Like just to be safe man, like maybe you should just eat the roach. For you non-stoners out there this means swallowing the end of the joint. Forces Canada merely recommends "eating the roach" to prevent Forest Fires. Health Canada recommends shoving pot up your ass. Honest. Dateline-Edmonton, Alberta
There has never been a story Forces Canada has covered where I received as much correspondence as this one. There has been a ton of stories as a reaction to this in the Edmonton media. The latest is there will be a Charter of Rights case about Keep It Simple. According to Thursday's Edmonton Sun, Edmonton City lawyers are confident that Keep It Simple will prevail on Charter grounds, because of discrimination against addiction. Mayor Bill Smith is apparently looking at some face-saving compromise on this because of the public outcry. On the eve of the French Revolution a couple of hundred years ago, the Queen Of France, Marie Antoinette, was told the people had no bread, allegedly said: "Let them eat cake." Several years later, Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI were sent to the guillotine. The modern equivalent for Canadian Elites of: "Let them eat cake" is" Let THEM Smoke Outside." Edmonton Mayor and former football player, who seems to have played a few too many games without a Helmut, Bill Smith, told this to the patrons of the Keep It Simple Club, "Let them smoke outside." On being informed that an AA meeting place would have to serve alcohol to allow the 90% of the AA patrons the right to smoke, Marie Antoinette Smith said: "Its insane. That doesn't make any sense to me." "You can't give one group a special deal. Its done. Its over. Let's get on with life." Before Marie Antoinette Smith totally destroys the Edmonton hospitality industry, and countless jobs, in the name of Socialist Progression (Hitler also had the same grandiose fantasies and fetishes) I would only hope that Edmontonians go to the ballot box and mark a big X beside the name of a different candidate for Mayor in the upcoming election. Dateline-Montreal, Quebec
Here is what Mayor Tremblay told a rally in support of Montreal's Formula 1 Racing: "For us the Grand Prix is very important not only for the economic benefit...but also because its a pride of all Montrealers, Quebecers, and Canadians." Event organizers could not understand why the race was banned even though none of the three cigarette brands that are displayed were for sale in Canada. This point was also brought up in Forces Canada. The Montreal Gazette called the rally "small, but feisty." It was organized within 3 days, and was not well publicized. The Toronto Red Star (Canada's answer to the Manchester Guardian-a hard left propaganda rag) naturally had a different take on the Montreal rally to save an event that brings in 300,000 tourists and $80 million to Montreal. Sunday's headline in the Toronto Red Star read: "Fans fail to show for Montreal rally." The Red Star wrote:" A rally to save Montreal's Grand Prix drew less than 200 people to a downtown park Saturday, but organizers insisted they weren't disappointed. "For those of you who can differentiate between a news story and an editorial in the Toronto Red Star, the Red Star-surprise-surprise applauded the Liberals killing the Montreal Grand Prix. "This was a spontaneous reaction, we had only three days to prepare, it doesn't mean support is not there", said Alain Creton a Montreal restaurant owner and one of the organizers. Normam Legault, chief executive of the Montreal Grand Prix said:" I don't think Montrealers have given up whether they are here or not." Legault said fans all over the world are using the Internet to protest the decision. In a late breaking development, Thursday's Montreal Gazette is reporting that Quebec cabinet Minister Martin Cauchon is taking time out from his busy schedule in promoting gay marriage to go to make an 11th hour plea to Formula One Race officials to keep the race in Montreal. Cauchon has already said that the Liberals will not modify da law. As our beloved Prime Minister said "Da law is da law", although da law was changed in Belgium to accommodate da race. Thus this becomes another expensive junket for Martin Cauchon and his Liberal flunkies. Vive le Quebec. Vive le Quebec Libre! Dateline-Cornwall-Ontario
Why would I celebrate this? Certain lucky smokers are getting a reprieve from being gouged under all the usual pretexts. And more importantly that means less money for Canada's PARASITE INDUSTRY. Anything that keeps money away from Canada's $480 million PARASITE INDUSTRY is delightful. To those who buy contraband cigarettes, you're doing the rest of us a huge favour. Tobacco taxes were only lowered in the mid 90s because of smuggling. And it means less money for THE PARASITES. Dateline-Vancouver. B.C.
No word on whether pot smoking is banned as well. If you're a potential tourist, this is a great reason to skip visiting B.C. Dateline-Montreal, Quebec
During the referendum to separate from Canada a few years ago, Chretien went on National TV to ask Quebecers: "What did Canada ever do to you?" Now Quebec has its answer. As I stated before this has been a story relegated to the back of the sports pages, if covered at all by the Canadian media outside of Quebec. Only the Montreal Gazette has covered the story with the justification it deserves. There has been the odd exception. Thursday's Grope and Flail, surprisingly published an excellent letter from a correspondent from Niagara Falls, Ontario who denounces Ottawa's anti-tobacco agenda as "Social-Engineering." No kidding, but still a surprise coming from the Grope and Flail. But the best comment in English Canada came from George Jonas' column in Wednesday's National Post. The column was entitled" Tobacco enemies claim another victim." Here is an excerpt: "Needless to say, the entire matter has nothing to do with science or public hygiene. The most rabid anti-tobacco activist doesn't seriously believe that people take up smoking because the word "Marlboro" is painted on the tail fin of a car. In China product advertising hasn't existed at all until the last few years, yet most adults smoke. Cannibus has never been advertised, but this hasn't prevented entire generations from "experimenting" with it. The issue of tobacco sponsorship at F1 events has to do with symbols of power. Imposing a ban is the safety-and lifestyle Gestapo raising its flag in truimph. It signifies that the edicts of health commissars supercede people's economic interests, individual choices, or constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression. The ban also means that after successfully defending our fundamental freedoms against the great tyrants of the 20th century, we are merely surrendering them to petty martinets of safety trends, environmental etiquette, and political correctness. Its a paradox, but then life is full of paradoxes." Dateline-Ottawa
Will this transparent shakedown be more successful in Canada? Given all the Liberal Party appointed hacks and bagmen they couldn't fit into the Senate, that are dumped on the Courts-who knows? But the point is not to collect anything from RJR as it is for Gar and his Liberal Party financed $480 million PARASITE INDUSTRY-to make another one of their BIG EXISTENTIAL STATEMENTS. Dateline-Chatham-Kent, Ontario
In Thursday's London Free Press, a fellow who is a non -smoker named Dave Richie wrote a column datelined Chatham-Kent entitled "Smoking ban hits business, charities". Mr. Richie calls Chatham's recent smoking ban "a new form of cancer-Sudden Business Death Syndrome." Mr. Richie claims that bars, bingo halls, and restaurants have been hit with 40% losses since the ban was imposed. Tourism in Chatham-Kent is down 70%. Naturally this 40% decline in business has led to employee layoffs, shorter hours of operation, and businesses staying closed on certain days. The new rallying cry of Chatham smokers is" House Party" and "Windsor-here we come." Mr. Richie points out that this devastation is happening in the summer months with Patios. Its a certainty winter will be much worse. The anti-smoking nuts regularly send University of Toronto Prof. Roberta Ference to assure communities how wonderful smoking bans are for business. Roberta, if you're reading this, your presence is desperately required in Chatham-Kent. I'm sure City Councilors in Chatham-Kent and throughout Ontario are anxiously awaiting your facts and figures about how smoking bans are great for business. Dateline-Edmonton, Alberta
"Keep It Simple Bar" in Edmonton is the meeting place for Alcoholics Anonymous. It serves no alcohol, but instead serves fruit juices, pop, and food. 90% of the people who attend these meetings are smokers. The bar atmosphere is supposed to help them overcome their serious drinking problem. According to the Edmonton Journal story" No-smoking law creates quandary for' sober bar'", if Keep It Simple wants to allow smoking-they have to serve alchohol. This "Bar" is actually a private club that holds AA meetings. Now in a first in human recorded history AA meetings will have to serve alcohol to allow smoking. The same guy who owns the Keep It Simple Bar also owns The Keep It Simple coffee-shop next door which has suffered a 30% loss since the smoking ban was imposed. This poor guy reminds me of the fellow that owned the Chrysler-Uniroyal dealership at Three Mile Island in the 1970s. I personally don't drink and I'm not trying to be sarcastic about this, but isn't one of the 12 steps at AA to surrender to a higher power? I don't think that those at AA conceived the higher power as being Edmonton City Council. Also in Edmonton, Kerry Diotte of the Edmonton Sun wrote a column Wednesday about smoking bans at Commonwealth Stadium, the home of the Edmonton Eskimos. Kerry informed readers that Commonwealth's ban is even more restrictive than the Edmonton ban. Kerry informs readers that many smokers are ignoring the smoking bans. Eskimo fans-you are keeping the C.F.L afloat. The Toronto Argonauts and now the 0-8 Hamilton Pussycats are now both wards of the CFL. Without 40,000 plus showing up at Commonwealth Stadium the whole CFL goes bye-bye. So you have an awful lot of leverage. Outside of the Prairies the CFL doesn't draw flys. B.C. Place, despite quarterback Dave Dickenson and ex-Bomber and League MVP Geroy Simon is hard pressed to draw 20,000.Ottawa draws 23,000 a game if they're lucky. McGill Stadium in Montreal only holds about 21,000.Toronto and Hamilton are lucky to draw friends and relatives. So its the 40,000 plus fans in Edmonton, the 30,000 plus fans in Calgary ,the almost 30,000 fans in Regina and the 28,000 fans in Loserpeg keeping the CFL going, and carrying the Argonauts and the Hamilton Pussycats. If smokers stop showing up at Commonwealth or McMahon in Calgary its bye-bye C.F.L. For the record, I used to be a Bomber season ticket holder for about 25 years. I stopped going to games completely when smoking was banned in Winnipeg Stadium. Dateline-Whitehorse, North West Territories
The Whitehorse Star takes a very sanguine approach to this looming disater. Perhaps they should check with Bingo operators in Orangeville, Chatham, Sarnia, Waterloo and other places in Ontario to see how wonderful smoking bans have been for Bingos in those communities. I suggest the Whitehorse Star check the Ontario charity bingo situation quickly because there are not to many left. Dateline-Montreal, Quebec
This is the truth, but not a headline you are likely to see in the English Canadian media. Chretien telling the Formula One race organizers "Da law is da law" was widely ignored in the Canadian media. Most of the Canadian media buried the story-if they covered it at all in the back of the sports page, although I received accounts of the Liberal government killing Montreal's biggest tourist attraction from Agence France Press and the South African media. For accounts of this story that is unfolding I have relied on the Montreal Gazette. My French is not good enough to follow accounts of this in the French Quebec media. The few references to the Liberals killing the Formula One race have been surprisingly negative. The usually predictable rabid anti-smoker Grope and Flail surprised me by editorializing against Chretien's action. I don't know what's rarer- the Grope and Flail passing up a chance to make one of its big sanctimonious statements on the evils of anything tangentially connected to tobacco or the Grope and Flail criticizing anything Chretien does. The other big surprise on this was a letter from a non-smoker in the Ottawa Citizen who criticized the killing of the Formula One Race in Montreal .The new editor of the Ottawa Citizen must be a very brave fellow. The last Ottawa Citizen editor who criticized anything Chretien did was summarily fired. The Grope and Flail editorial and the letter in the Ottawa Citizen were anomalies. This has so far been a non-story in English Canada. I'll once again play Nostrodamus. I predict the lucky taxpayers of Canada will pick up the 20 million tab, the Tobacco Companies used to pay so the Formula One race will proceed in Montreal. The Liberal Party has too much to lose in Quebec to let the race die. What's another 20 million to the Liberals? Montreal based Bombardier just got a $1.2 Billion grant from the Liberals. Alberta beef producers struggling with Mad Cow got nothing. You saw it here first. The Liberal Party will come up with $20 million to replace Tobacco company sponsorship to allow the Montreal Formula One race to proceed. Dateline-Sarnia, Ontario
Bingoland East closed its door in mid May.58 separate charities each lost thousands of dollars. Bingoland East usually generated 1 million a year for Sarnia charites. Sarnia has lost 5 bingo halls in the past 4 years. So far this year Sarnia has lost $65,000 from bingo licensing. Sarnia usually generates between $600-700 thousand a year from bingo permits. Ontario Cabinet Minister Norm Sterling is meeting Aug 19 with the Border mayors of Sarnia, Windsor, Fort Erie, and Point Edwards to discuss the bingo crisis. Why would all those bingo players cross the border into Michigan? Is it because of a smoking ban? If anyone has first hand knowledge about smoking restrictions in Sarnia please contact me at warren.klass@3web.net Dateline-London, Ontario
On the other hand, if they offered me an hour with Sharon Stone, I might reconsider my commitment to Forces. But all kidding aside, I received a beautiful e-mail from a young fellow from London, Ontario the other day. Unfortunately, I do not have his permission to reproduce it here, but it was very much appreciated. He is an avid reader and big fan of Forces Canada and has turned his friends on to the site. He informed me about the effects of the smoking ban in London. For the past couple of months I have not seen anything in the London Free Press about the effects of the July 1 smoking ban. The London Free Press was one of the most obnoxious proponents of smoking bans, constantly reassuring readers that business would not suffer. This young fellow and another regular Forces Canada reader in London have both supplied a very different picture. I haven't reported these kind of observations because with a regular news story I have a documentation to site. Without betraying this young fellow's confidence or revealing his identity, he informed me that on a recent Saturday night the outdoor patios at the bars around the University of Western Ontario were packed. Inside he claimed they were virtually empty. In other parts of town, he claimed that virtually all restaurants and bars he saw were virtually deserted, even those that had an outdoor patio. He wonders how many will show up to the bars near the University of Western Ontario once the weather starts turning cold. Could this be the reason the London Free Press has been silent about the effects of a smoking ban? Also recently there have not been stories from Edmonton or New Brunswick about the effects on their recent smoking bans. Is this a new media strategy? To suppress stories about the devastation caused by smoking bans? The truth always comes out. Always. Dateline-Thunder Bay, Ontario
I can't even begin to describe what Thomas has done. He single-handedly organized the Thunder Bay hospitality industry, he played a huge role in derailing a plebiscite the anti-smoking nuts couldn't lose, he took endless, unfair cheap shots in the local anti-smoking media, he took on single-handedly the multi-million dollar campaigns of lies and propaganda from the anti-smoking nuts. He has driven the anti-smoking nuts crazy with his efforts. Thomas has recently blanketed Thunder Bay with leaflets and messages that read:" SMOKERS-THE ANTIS ARE LYING TO YOU. www.forces.org." And "SMOKERS, NON-SMOKERS www.forces.org ." When the anti-smoking nuts rip these down ,Thomas puts new ones up. As I've said many times, if and when we ever throw the Liberal Party out and take back the country and re-introduce civilization back to Canada-the first order of business should be to bestow The Order of Canada on Thomas Laprade. The Order of Canada is the highest civilian medal Canada can bestow. I cannot think of an individual more worthy. Editorial To the smokers and voters of Ontario? HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH? Do you want a new Ontario? Do you want a new Canada? Then vote OUT the Liberal Party !! In the last couple of months, Forces Canada has been swamped with stories and correspondence from Ontario. It may surprise many of you that Forces Canada started in Vancouver, and is now headquartered in Loserpeg. (Winnipeg. As ex-Winnipegger Neil Young once sang : "Everybody knows this is nowhere.") In the early years of its existence, Forces Canada started out as a very localized B.C. movement. In the past couple of years Forces Canada has become a Canadian Internet sensation. I'm very conscious that when I say something on Forces Canada more people will read what I have to say than saw Martin Luthers 95 thesis nailed to a Church wall in Wittenberg in the 16th Century. Forces Canada tries to fight back with words. Words on the Internet are all we have. Luther's words written to a handful of people in 16th Century changed the course of history. There is no question that the separation of the Catholic and Protestant Churches and the bloody civil wars that changed Europe, was because of one individual who said; "Ich kann nicht!" (I can not), and "Here I stand .I can do no other." Words can and have changed the world. When you're the President of Forces Canada, Winston Churchill's words on FIGHTING EVIL-SINGLE HANDILY resonate: "We cannot yet see how deliverance will come, or when it will come, but nothing is more certain than every trace of Hitler's footsteps, every stain of his infected and corroding fingers, will be sponged and purged and, if need be, blasted from the surface of the earth." I've had a few e-mails from Ontario wondering-how do we fight back? How do we get rid of THEM? How do we bring back civilization to Ontario? The answer is simple. It means going to the ballot box and placing X's on Municipal, Provincial and Federal Ballots. The point of marking an X is to SEND THEM PACKING! I can assure Ontario that the rest of Canada has HAD ENOUGH OF THEM-for a long time. Who are "THEM?" The whole Ontario Kumbaya Gang. The Federal Liberals. The Provincial Liberals. The Liberal City Councils who impose the smoking bans. The Globe and Mail (The Grope and Flail). The Toronto Red Star, The Osprey Media Group, the C.B.C., C.T.V. The Ontario Judiciary-the Liberal Party dumping ground for every hack and bagman the Liberals couldn't fit into the Senate. "Canada's" $480 million a year professional PARASITE INDUSTRY (Non-Smokers Rights Association, Action on Smoking and Health, the Cancer Society, the Lung Association, Physicians For a Smoker Free Canada-and a whole mob of unnecessary duplicates.) Do I have to spell out for Ontario what we all get for OUR $480 million of the Billions Canadian smokers pour into government coffers in tax money? Here is what, the Rest of Canada outside of Ontario get for our $10 a pack for cigarettes. We get to finance the whole Ontario PARASITE INDUSTRY -so we are lucky enough to smoke our $10 a pack cigarettes outside in -50 bellow, at food banks because we have lost jobs and businesses -so the ONTARIO PARASITE CLASS can go to winter conferences in Miami on teen smoking. These are THE PARASITES that have tormented smokers, while collecting 6 figure incomes. Teen smoking has skyrocketed in Canada, not because you had the right to smoke in a bingo, restaurant, or bar but because the moronic Propaganda campaigns in the media and schools have backfired.$10 a pack for cigarettes, does not deter teen smoking, but brings tons of kids into the black-market. If we don't want to get our kids to smoke the easiest way to accomplish this is to get rid of the anti-smoking PARASITE INDUSTRY. Make no mistake these PARASITES, like the Ontario Judiciary and the Senate is another in a long line of Liberal Party patronage schemes gone awry. If Ontario has joined the rest of the Country in saying they've HAD ENOUGH, then the easiest way to bring back Civilized Behavior to Ontario is to vote out the Liberal Party. This means getting off your ass once every three or four years and sending your local Liberal Candidate a message: You've HAD ENOUGH! This means going to vote in a Municipal election and send the Liberal City Councilor and Mayor who impose smoking Bans a message-X-I'VE HAD ENOUGH! This means going to the polls during the Ontario Provincial election and telling Dalton McGuinty and his $10 a carton increase, AND ONTARIO PROVINCIAL SMOKING BAN-"X-I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" This means going to the polls in the next Federal election and telling Paul Martin and the Liberal Party of Canada-the Patrons of the PARASITES-"X-I'VE HAD ENOUGH! I WANT A NEW CANADA!! This is how we can stop the madness. Tell your friends, your neighbors, whomever-I HAVE HAD ENOUGH! I WANT A NEW ONTARIO. I WANT A NEW CANADA. Its only because Ontario voted in the Liberal Party that we all have to contend with smoking bans and high cigarette taxes. Warren Klass(President Forces Canada) Dateline-Belleville, Ontario
The Intelligencer puts the loss of many downtown restaurants at 50%. Restaurant owners complain that regular customers no longer come in. One restaurant owner who went on the record, Peter Kallinteris claims his business is down ONLY 25%. A downtown coffee-shop with 15 tables was profiled. Before the smoking ban the place was always packed. The Intelligencer reported during a recent visit at 10.30 A.M.-during the peak of the morning coffee break downtown, only 2 of the 15 tables were occupied. Restaurants/bars that had outdoor patios were at least even. But the owners are certain that when colder weather comes, business will collapse. Within the next few days, I'm planning to post a special Forces Canada editorial directed to Ontario smokers on how to Fight Back. Dateline-Toronto, Ontario
The Grope and Flail instead of giving Gar and his Taliban Vice and Virtue Committee another forum-despite taking some very expensive ads from Gar, instead went with another dreary, boring Academic treatise on Gay marriage. Since the Grope and Flail, and a mob of unnecessary duplicates through the Canadian media started supporting this, public opinion polls have shown public approval has fallen dramatically. The Liberal Party is in panic mode with more than half ready to vote against the same-sex bill. But Gar's topic was not trying to justify telling Montreal to drop dead. The topic was Gar's other favorite hobbyhorse-the so-called "smuggling" of cigarettes in the early 90s. The mandate of Forces Canada, which by the way receives no money from Big Tobacco, or anyone else for that matter, is to try to stand up for smokers rights, and not defend the Tobacco Companies. But on this one I'm with Big Tobacco. In the early 90s,the Liberals massively raised Tobacco taxes. Naturally, there was a huge epidemic of smuggling in Ontario and Quebec, and taxes had to be reduced. After prompting from Gar et al, the Liberals squandered millions in U.S. Courts trying to sue the Tobacco companies. Virtually every U.S. Court including the U.S. Supreme Court laughed this out. Now Gar wants the Liberals to piss away more millions on a futile case in Canadian Courts. The statute of limitations is running out. The Tobacco companies LEGALLY exported cigarettes to the
U.S. Gar calls this a "technicality". That's a hell of a technicality. Can you imagine some
Liberal hack going in front of some Liberal Party appointed hack or bagman
and saying with a straight face:" Your Honor, I want to charge RJR Reynolds
with LEGALLY EXPORTING cigarettes to the U.S. Although RJR LEGALLY EXPORTED
cigarettes to the U.S. the intent was to undermine the Liberal Government's Just to show how desperate Gar is getting, he quotes "Dr" Sheela Basur as his big supporter. For those of you whose memory is very short, Sheela, the poster girl of affirmative action, would regularly go on CNN to tell the world how safe and SARS free Toronto was. As Toronto's public Health officer, SARS spiraled out of control under Sheela's watch. At least Sheela had a great alibi for allowing SARS to spin out of control on her watch-she was too busy lying, and making a complete ass of herself to Toronto City Council about the harm of Designated Smoking Rooms-to do anything about SARS that wrecked Toronto on her watch. Can you think of one other city in North America or Europe that had the problems Toronto had with SARS under the highly competent Dr.Sheela? In an uncharacteristic burst of sanity, the Liberal government does not appear to be in a rush to piss away more millions on this insanity. Dateline-Port Hope, Ontario
This absurdity is going on now in Port Hope. Here is a brief excerpt from a story entitled "Booze policy in works" from Monday's edition of Northumberland Today: I have edited out the Health Bureaucrat's name) "While there is no real problem of disorderly drinking on municipal property such as events like the Canada Day celebration...still its an important policy to have in place for liability purposes. "There is no real problem here, but everybody's concerned about making sure all safeguards are in place." Dateline-Vancouver, B.C
The only reason I'm including this in Forces Canada is because of an incredibly stupid comment some nitwit made. Dr. Nevin Murray of B.C. Cancer Agency told another nitwit at the CBC: "Think back to the turn of the century and the early 1900s.Lung cancer was actually a very uncommon problem. In fact there would be medical reports written about a case of lung cancer, it being so rare." I hope for the sake of all my friends in B.C.that Dr. Murray knows more about medicine than he does history. There is a reason lung cancer was rare at the turn of the 20th Century-LIFE EXPECTANCY WAS 42.Its now 77-78 for smokers and 79 for non-smokers. The reason lung cancer was rare at the turn of the century was because the big killer was stomach cancer. With the inventions of electricity and refrigerators life expectancy jumped into the mid 70s.With the invention of antibiotics life expectancy jumped a couple more years. Stomach cancer largely disappeared because people where not eating rotten food. A few months ago the main Forces page carried a story from Britain's The Independent. In the late 1950s there was an epidemic of Lung Cancer in England, the government of Harold McMillan had a choice they could blame this on air pollution or cigarette smoking. We all know what they blamed this on. This was not the first time smoking rather than pollution was being blamed for Lung cancer. The first link came from a personal 100,000 mark grant in 1939 from Hitler to Dr.Hans Muller. Here is what Hitler got for his 100,000 marks. It took Richard Doll and his Anglo-American team until 1965 to come up with the IDENTICAL diagnosis: "If you smoke 35 cigarettes a day, AND work in an asbestos mine or dye factory, AND don't eat your fruit and vegetables AND don't exercise, IF you get lung cancer there is a p>1.0000001 probability (a one in a million chance in epidemiology) that smoking didn't play a ROLE." Out of this came:" SMOKING CAUSES LUNG CANCER. "A" CAUSE"is defined medically as a 50-100%correlation.Only 3-5%of smokers will ever get lung cancer, which is largely a disease of aging. There is a very good reason people in 1900,where the life expectancy was 42 seldom got lung cancer. One of the most recent reports I read on the question states that ALL HEAVY SMOKERS will get lung cancer between 150-200 years old. This is the same principle as Dr.Murray's obvious sophistry. Dateline-Montreal, Quebec
Last week on the main Forces page I saw that Belgium rescinded its anti-tobacco legislation to allow the Formula 1 to return to Brussels. So this is not some kind of International Treaty the Canadian Elite love to hide behind. This is a made in Canada insanity. Last month I reported to Forces Canada readers that Canada's Formula 1 racing team in Toronto lost its sponsorship, because it was sponsored by Players. Another sponsor has not yet been found. The cost of sponsoring a Formula 1 racing team is apparently $22 million (U.S). Not surprisingly there have not been any takers. I don't claim to know much if anything about Formula 1 racing. (I'm more of a football and hockey fan). But aside from the economic losses suffered by Montreal and Quebec, Formula racing has a place in the culture of Quebec because of various Quebec racing heroes such as Jacques Villenueve. The race was cancelled in Montreal because various cars carry the words Marlboro and Lucky Strike. Go try to even find a pack of Marlboro's or Lucky Strikes in Canada. You can't because they don't sell them in Canada. The pretext for canceling the race is of course HEALTH. Canada's Health Minister Dreamboat Annie McLellan put out a statement:" We recognize that there will be an important impact on Montreal's economy, but we also have an obligation to protect the health of Canadians." Rob Cunningham, one of the head PARASITES of the Canadian Cancer Society was naturally cheering this on in Saturday's Grope and Flail. Last month in an interview with Health Canada, which I reported to Forces
Canada readers, I called Health Canada a bunch of liars. How does watching a
car race have anything to do with health? Although I'm sure within a day or
two, Gar Mahood or some other representative of Canada's Liberal Government
funded $480 million a year PARASITE INDUSTRY will treat readers of the Grope
and Flail or the Toronto Red Star to some kind of convoluted,
sanctimonious, moronic justification. Canada's $480 million, Liberal Party funded PARASITES are all over the Internet offering their spin To those in Montreal and Quebec impacted really for the first time by Liberal Government high-handedness, perhaps you might want to re-consider your overwhelming support for the Liberals in the next election. Dateline-Chatham, Ontario
This action is too little, too late for Bingo County in Wallaceberg which announced its closing its doors on August 16.I specifically mentioned the plight of Bingo County in my last submission on Forces Canada. According to the Daily News, last year Bingo County paid $80,000 in bingo license fees and raised some $400,000 for local charities. The collateral damage from the Liberal Party of Canada's war on smokers just keeps growing and growing. Dateline-Minto, Ontario
The Record quoted Mayor Ron Elliot as saying it was unfair to ban smoking at the Palmer Hotel in Palmerston, while allowing smoking down the street at the Palmer Legion. Thank you Mayor Elliot for proving to this Manitoban that all not Ontarians are deluded ideologues devoid of common sense. Dateline-Windsor, Ontario
Previously, in Forces Canada, I profiled CABR (Citizens Against Bylaw Reform). It seems CABR challenged Sudbury's smoking ban in Court and lost round 1.The Ontario judiciary is the notorious dumping ground for Liberal Party appointed hacks and bagmen. CABR is planning to appeal. Lets hope that there is some Judge in Ontario that is not a Liberal Party appointed hack, who actually believes in justice and not just rubber stamping the whims of the ruling Liberal Party elite. I'm not holding my breath either. Dateline-Halifax, Nova Scotia
With the defeats of Calamity Jane and Dingbat, hopefully the next Nova Scotia Health Minister will get the message - Anti-Smoking campaigns can be very harmful to electoral health. In the case of Calamity Jane and David Dingbat they were fatal. Dateline-Toronto, Ontario
What was absent from the usual drivel from the Grope and Flail's editorial was any of their usual lies about second-hand smoke. Second-hand smoke was in fact not mentioned. None of the usual Grope and Flail lies about protecting the health of non-smoking workers. So what's the rationale for the new justification from the Grope and Flail? Getting smokers to quit. The Grope and Flail supplied no evidence that this would be successful-for the very good reason that none exists. Occasionally the media plays up some ex-smoker who credits smoking bans for quitting. In all likelihood they were going to quit anyway. People have quit smoking long before smoking bans and exorbitant cigarette taxes. Once again the Grope and Flail becomes the mouthpiece/apologist for a dreary kind Liberalism that's big on punishment for one group of sinners (smokers) while falling over themselves pushing for gay marriages on the pretext of "tolerance". The Grope and Flail took time out of its busy agenda bashing the Catholic Church for meddling in Canadian politics. Pardon me for asking, but who exactly elected: The editorial board of the Grope and Flail, the Toronto Red Star, The Ontario Supreme Court, The Ontario Medical Association who have shown not the slightest reticence about telling everyone who to live and punishing sinners who don't buy their agenda? Has there been one pronouncement on what constitutes good and evil, or on "Lifestyle", or on how we should all live or believe from the unaccountable, un-elected Ontario judiciary, the Ontario Medical Association, or the editorial board of the Grope and Flail that would not make the Pope or the Taliban blush for temerity? I am not Catholic, and I don't agree with the Catholic Church about everything, but I have far more respect for the Catholic Church than I do for the whole Ontario Kumbaya gang-which is just as much a religion. Dateline-Orilla, Ontario
Here is an excerpt from Thursday's Orilla Packet&Times: A member of the Orilla branch of the Royal Canadian Legion is fuming because the City of Orilla bylaw officer insists placements that promote this weekend's fundraiser be removed from eateries to comply with the city's no-smoking bylaw. Dann Oliver helped organize the distribution of 15,000 placemats to the Legion's fifth annual Tribute Artists weekend. Oliver said the bylaw enforcement officer threatened to revoke Branch 34's private club status Tuesday if it didn't remove the placements because they violate the city's no-smoking bylaw. "We bent over backwards trying to raise money for the vets and the kids programs that we put on and then this kind of nonsense goes on." I have a suggestion for my neighbors in Ontario-put any vestige of Mike Harris "Common Sense Revolution" on milk cartons in Ontario, in case anyone has seen it. Dateline-Peace River, Alberta
The Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey (CTUMS) notes that in 2001, 24 per cent of youth aged 15-19 smoked. Here in Peace River 29 percent of youth in the same age group smoked and about 30 per cent of adults. While programs like ONTRAC and PATH are helping kids as young as 10 years old see the benefits of a non-smoking lifestyle, a lack of smoking restrictions makes the habit seem accepted, and even harder to break. "Part of the problem is people can smoke in too many places." This is the new mantra of the anti-smoking nuts-lets decimate the hospitality industry-and lie about it the way we lied about second-hand smoke-in the hopes that the odd smoker, who was probably going to quit anyway-might quit. Supply no evidence that this is anything more than the daydreaming fantasies of Academic PARASITES. And blame Hollywood or Forces or anyone other than their own moronic propaganda campaigns that obviously backfire for kids smoking. Dateline-Chatham, Ontario
The Tuesday edition of the Chatham Daily News carried a story on how the recent smoking ban impacted local charity bingos. (Bingo revenues up in smoke). Although the brunt of the losses has been felt by charities that rely on bingo revenues, Miss Gostick pointed out other collateral damage from employees to taxi companies that have been impacted by the smoking ban. In June alone 4 scheduled bingos were cancelled because of lack of attendance. Marty Carroll, manager of Bingo County in Chatham says the impact of the smoking bylaw in Chatham has been" significant to say the least." Carroll told the Chatham Daily News:" Some of the charities are hurting significantly. We're seeing a decrease of $35,000-$40,000 a month." Rob Dowd, the owner of the Riverview Bingo Palace in Chatham said business is down 30% since the smoking ban was imposed. Mike Luckham, the director of the Ridgetown bingo hall puts his loss at 25%.The Ridgetown bingo is owned and operated by: The Rotary Club, Kiwanis Club, the Knights of Columbus in Ridgetown, the Blenheim Optimists Club, and the Highgate Lions. Carroll puts the total monthly losses by bingos in the Chatham-Kent region impacted by the anti-smoking bylaw at a whopping $584,000 a month. This includes two bingo halls in Chatham, one in Wallaceberg, and one in Ridgetown. One charity, the Kent Athletic Youth Organization (K.A.Y.O), an amateur boxing club for children has seen its entire $2,000 month budget vanish because of the effect of the smoking ban on bingo revenues. Floyd Porter, the director, said the kids are heartbroken at the prospect of the club having to fold. Perhaps the anti-smoking nuts will tell us once again how wonderful smoking bans are for business, when its obviously devastating. The anti-smoking nuts are selling a different spin to the Chatham Daily News. The economic downturn is being blamed-not the smoking ban-for the devastation of the Chatham hospitality industry-by the anti-smoking nuts quoted in a related story in the Chatham Daily News. And where oh where are the anti-smoking nuts who claimed they would start patronizing establishments when smoking was banned? Several were interviewed by the Chatham Daily News. All admitted they had not been to a restaurant or bar since the smoking ban was imposed. We at Forces Canada are shocked-shocked at this duplicity. (See Whitehorse story). One young loudmouth who claims to be an asthmatic "allergic" to second-hand smoke admitted she has not been to a restaurant since the ban was imposed. As an asthmatic myself, I can confidently tell Forces Canada readers that second-hand smoke or primary smoke CONTAINS NO ALLERGENS. Asthmatics are potentially allergic to thousands of things-the most common being dust, pollen and pet hair, BUT TOBACCO SMOKE CONTAINS NO ALLERGENS! Dateline-Toronto, Ontario
Tuesday's editorial" Smoking actors poor role models" naturally contains absolutely no evidence seeing a character smoke on screen impacts behaviour. Just to show how completely devoid of evidence the Red Star's polemic is ,they actually quote "Doctor" (a supposed PhD in Mechanical Engineering) Stanton Glantz. Forces readers are well acquainted with the endless idiocy coming from the mouth of Stanton Glantz. A much better role model for kids should thus be the endless dreary, Stalinist polemics from the super-rich dilettantes at the Toronto Star. According to the Toronto Star all the world's problems-other than Hollywood actors being a bad role model- are because of the U.S. and Israel. In all seriousness, as the parent of two teenagers the LEAST harmful image a kid can see depicted in movies is someone smoking. The other story out of Toronto was a press release by Dalton McGuinty and the Ontario Liberals once again promising/threatening that if and when elected he will impose a province wide indoor smoking ban in Ontario AND raise cigarette taxes $10 a carton-for starters. Other than the CBC-the in house propaganda organ of the Liberal Party - none of the other Toronto media I monitor found the story newsworthy. The CBC which receives hundreds of millions, if not billions in taxpayer subsidies, along with $480 million annually to the anti-smoking PARASITES, and a Billion to the gun registry are pillars of the Liberal Party vision of Canada. It would have been nice if Ontario voters could see that McGuinty is planning for all of Ontario to look like Chatham or Orangeville, or a bunch of other Ontario municipalities covered by Forces Canada in the past few months. Dateline-Whitehorse, North West Territories
In this spirit CBC North is reporting on the efforts of Whitehorse bar manager, Janice Lattin who manages the Roadhouse bar in Whitehorse. Miss Lattin is giving the anti-smoking loudmouths a chance to put up or shut up. Miss Lattin is voluntarily banning smoking at the Roadhouse for the month of August to see how many anti-smoking loudmouths actually show up. The Roadhouse has a vast patio for smoking patrons for the August experiment. Miss Lattin told CBC North:" I listened to all the non-smokers say they wanted a place. I thought, I'll give them a month to see if they show up." Janice, don't hold your breath on these loudmouths showing up. If they do it will only be for an orchestrated media event, and you'll never, ever see them again. Dateline-Calgary, Alberta
As to be expected the anti-smoking nuts are hysterical at this. They are going on about the harmful effects of nicotine. If this snake-oil was being peddled by the Pharmaceutical companies be assured the anti-smoking nuts would be in favor of it. A couple of days ago in a datelined story out of Ottawa, I reported that Stats Canada was reporting how smoking rates declined 1%.According to an editorial Tuesday in the Calgary Herald, the Alberta number is 2%.But the Herald is suspicious. If smoking rates declined only 2%,then why is there a 24% decline in the number of cigarettes sold in Alberta? The answer of course is the Blackmarket. The Herald accuses the black-market of undermining Alberta's tobacco control efforts. I'm sure they're all choked up at this sentiment. I know I am. Dateline-Edmonton, Alberta
It seems perfectly acceptable to push hundreds of thousands of Albertans into food banks with huge cigarette taxes under the usual pretexts, but don't inconvenience the cigar smoking plutocracy. "Thought precedes action." Nietzsche In the last week, I've received a few e-mails from Ontario asking" How can we fight back?" I wish I had a good answer to give, but I don't. The most successful" fighting back" strategy has come out of Thunder Bay, Ontario-and that is only because of the heroic actions of one man-Thomas Laprade. A few months ago I received a call from a fellow in Winnipeg who was so moved by Forces Canada's accounts of how Thomas was fighting back in Thunder Bay, that he wanted to replicate Thomas' efforts in Winnipeg. I told him trying to imitate what Thomas does is like trying to imitate Picasso paint. Thomas is one of a kind. But the following three stories from Welland, Ontario, Fredricton, New Brunswick, and Edmonton, Alberta are about groups of people "FIGHTING BACK." They can't do this themselves, so if you happen to be in Welland, Fredricton or Edmonton try to give them a hand or at least go vote in the fall-that's the best way to FIGHT BACK. Dateline-Welland, Ontario
BARCO has recruited another of its members to run for City Council in November, hospitality owner, Gail Tomori. Miss Tomori is the owner of the Bear's Den on Thorald Road. The BARCO meeting was held at the Bear's Den. BARCO is planning a campaign of newspaper ads, billboards, and radio spots. If you're in Welland, Ontario and you want to FIGHT BACK, here's your chance. Drop into the Bear's Den or one of the other Barco members (the Welland Tribune mentioned that Rich Christoff's Elbow Room has a new Designated Smoking Room), patronize their establishments and tell Miss Tomori or a BARCO member that you want to donate a few bucks or volunteer your time or even bother to go vote in November. Freedom is not free. Dateline-Fredricton, New Brunswick
Gerry Lingley, owner of the 20-20 Club on Regent Street told the Journal-Telegraph: "We are proceeding. We think we have grounds...We don't have the details yet but we met as a group." The Journal Telegraph is reporting that bars just outside Fredericton City limits are capitalizing on not having smoking restrictions. One bar mentioned is the appropriately named City Limits at Pepper Creek Plaza. Another new bar is in the planning stage in Lower St.Mary's is to be called Smoke on the Water. New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord has gone on record against a Province-wide smoking ban. N.D.P Leader Elizabeth Weir, however, is promising/threatening one if elected, according to Saturday's Telegraph-Journal. Dateline-Edmonton, Alberta
The founder of the Edmonton City Hall Watchdog Group is a 43 year old businessman named Mike Pietrama. Mike was quoted as saying: "The response has been amazing. But the amazing thing is at the last meeting, everyone wanted to get involved. When we passed out information sheets asking for volunteers for committees, every person filled one out." The Edmonton City Hall Watchdog Group is organizing phone-in and letter writing campaigns to end the smoking ban, and the high taxes in Edmonton. They are also trying to motivate Edmontonians to show up at the polls in next fall's election to replace the Mayor and certain City Councilors. If you're in Edmonton and you want to FIGHT BACK give Mike Pietrama a call at 474-3331-and FIGHT BACK. Dateline-Ottawa, Ontario
assumption), after $480 million a year pissed away on the Liberal government PARASITE Industry, huge new tobacco taxes, smoking bans coast to coast, a non-stop propaganda campaign-and smoking rates declined 1%-maybe. I have just three words for this big accomplishment. Two of them are BIG DEAL. Stats Canada claimed to have interviewed 30,000 people out of a population of 30 million. How many people are going to tell their smoking habits to complete strangers? The claimed 1% decline is within the margin of error. Some of you have e-mailed me that the numbers don't take into account black market cigarettes. But assuming the numbers are correct, some interesting things emerge. A few weeks ago Health Canada was claiming 15% of Quebecois were smokers. Now Stats Canada is putting the number at 26%-the highest in Canada. Smoking rates for those aged 20-24 are at 32%.Youth smoking despite the whole propaganda onslaught aimed at kids held steady at 22%. Girls in Alberta |
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