Chilliwack, BC (With files from Star FM and Chilliwack Progress) – On Thursday October 1, the City of Chilliwack will kick in their new smaoking by-laws. There has been confusion over where you can and can not smoke. Basically its on city property such as City Hall, public buildings, parks and trails.
Yes you can still have a puff in your car, on your property and walking down the street.
Back on August 18, The City of Chilliwack drafted a new bylaw toward becoming completely smoke-free — both inside and out.
FVN, Star FM and the Progress reported:
City Councilors drafted the new bylaw to formally ban smoking in outdoor public spaces. This includes parks, trails, bus stops and close proximity to public facilities (City Hall, Library, Rec Centres etc). Fines can be as high as $10,000.
Mayor Sharon Gaetz, citing no-smoking rules adopted in Vancouver, Victoria, White Rock, and Whistler are pointing to their policies as templates.
Council unanimously voted in July to have staff draft a bylaw to prohibit smoking in outdoor public spaces, and that was backed up on Tuesday.
The push to go smoke-free outdoors in Chilliwack obviously looks at fire safety concerns, considering the spike in smoking related wild fires and bark mulch fires.
Fraser Health and Canadian Cancer Society submitted proposals to back up the legislation.
Now comes the real trick to this exercise. Enforcement.