Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "No Fair ...No Fair":
I've noticed that Ms Wynne is doing things that do not cost her government
much. Like banning smoking in playgrounds. Do you suppose she could be
convinced to shorten the municipal campaigns ? It is probably within her
scope and this last one really made it clear that they are toooo long.
Posted by Anonymous to Our Town and Its Business at 8 November 2014 18:06
***************************
That the smoking initiative will not be at the expense of the provincial government does not mean
it will enforce itself at no expense
Oh Dear Me No.
Patios, playgrounds and sports fields are all municipal .
How enforcement might be accomplished is interesting to contemplate.
Municipal bylaws are mostly enforced by complaint.
Picture this:
A miscreant on a park bench puffing on the deadly component. Evidence of wrong-doing swirling about his head.
A neighbour or perhaps even a friend observes and furtively, because he is entitled to confidentiality, whips out cell phone and calls in complaint.
A voice machine takes the message and assures of a response within forty-eight hours.
What chance the scene will still be of the crime?
Or alternatively:
The municipality hires a small army of bylaw officers, provides them with uniforms,means of transport, maybe electric prods and hand -held devices to download input to the asset management program at the end of each shift, twenty four, seven .
Or alternatively:
Municipality installs cameras to spy on people at all playgrounds, sports fields, and bar patio and installs a special unit in the empty floor of the new joint facility, like a bank of air traffic controllers, scanning the areas constantly,ever ready to catch miscreants in the act or anything else that might be going on.
Drones could be acquired to zoom in and pluck the cigarette right out of the startled citizens mouth,or douse him with a bucket of ice water when he least expects it.
Revenue to pay for all or any one program. could come from sales tax revenue generated by sale of tobacco products.
Didn't hear anything about enforcement in the government's announcement.
Nothing said either hospital entrances where doctors, nurses and perhaps terminally ill patients patients with oxygen carts gather collegially to satisfy their shameful craving.
Sunday 9 November 2014
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31 comments:
Smoking used to be allowed at Sunnybrook in communal rooms. Maybe to accommodate the vets at one time. Gradually all such perks are being reduced so that one finds smokers in stairwells which seems safe as most people use the lifts. But you can still get a drink there if you know where to look.
I know people who have run into by-law officers over leaving a vehicle on the road after their driveways were re-surfaced even though they left a note to explain on the wind-shield. Never met anyone ticketed to illegal use of water during the summer though. Enforcement is a crap shoot.
REMEMBERING
We must not relive our history yet it remains in our memory forever.
Highland golf club is closing. I can see another Glenway scenario.
Oh, please, 19:18, take a mini-break.
Or we might get into the golfing industry.
Why, 19:56? I think 19:18 may be right - what do you think is going to happen with that land, 19:56?
While walking the dog, I enjoy a fine handmade Cuban cigar. These highly taxed smokes cost anywhere from $20 to $65 a piece in Canada but I don't mind paying for quality.
Sometimes on my walks, I will cut through a park. Will there be bylaw officers posted at the entrance to the parks? I may have to find alternate routes.
Can't tell where you stand on this issue based on your post, Evelyn. Could be read as more than just a little tongue-in-cheek.
I have a couple of thoughts on this. First, I am a strong proponent of banning smoking in public places, including all of the great outdoors. It bothers me to have to run the gauntlet of smokers outside public/office buildings - their smoke more than invades my "personal space" - some number of inches/feet past the end of my nose, is that the old standard? Second, there is not a smoker known to me who does NOT flick his cigarette butt on the ground when finished. This drives me crazy. One day, I swear, I am going to pick one up and hand it back to the smoker, and ask him politely (maybe) to stop littering.
As far as enforcement goes, it seems that this would be no different than consuming alcohol in public, no?
Since they were losing money as a golf course, members were informed that alternatives uses for the land & building would have to be considered.
Sustainability. A word that some Aurorans seem unable to comprehend.
9:11
You can cut through the George Street School yard down to the little park by the creek at the bottom of the hill & then up to Kennedy.
The kids in that school yard at night seem to be smoking something quite different but they are always friendly.
The club house is located in KING.
I thin Aurora has forgotten about High Tor. You can smoke without offending anyone up there and the dogs love the place.
Not to mention having to ride the elevator with someone is still exhausting the disgusting left over smoke from their lungs. I don't want to share that with them.
11:00 – That shouldn't be a problem. We can build one right here in Aurora. Wouldn't that be interesting?? I think Aurora would be the only Town that can say they own their own golf club. And we can justify having one. We’re described as a High income, educated community.
Are we talking Highlands or King's Riding?
Highlands' clubhouse is across the street (actually behind) from Tim Hortons. King's Riding is in King and the entire course is in King.... just like the cell tower, it's not an Aurora issue.
Having said that, as a golfer, I have heard rumours that Clublink will be closing King's Riding all season. There is a small membership and lot's of open tee times.
It's too bad, before the evil empire (Clublink) bought it, you could play there for $65 on a weekend and it was a great course.
11:34
I know about the HighTor area. I walk the dog there with a cigar often. watch for the coyotes though.
I can see where this might annoy someone living on Golf Links with a drawer full of address stickers.
(All tongue in cheek but) a municipal golf course would be a no brainer for the Mayor's Annual Golf Tournament...
and on the other side of things...
I have been taking my son to soccer for years and there is always a parent smoking usually off to the side. Not the best habit on display to the young players. I assume they will just have to move further "afield".
Honestly, if you stopped young people from smoking it would stop smoking. How many people pick up a cigarette once they hit their 20's? It's the peer pressure and/or the feeling of belonging to the group that gets kids smoking. They then segregate off into two groups - the smokers and the non-smokers and this then decides their on-going friends too. You don't see the non-smokers hanging out that much with the smokers, do you...
P.S. Why not turn the golf club into an urban park, oh, but that wouldn't bring in development fees and higher population density so needed for Aurora.
19:18 hit the nail on the head. ClubLink will sell the land to a developer, and it will be a Glenway situation all over again. What will that do to the property values of those homes which back onto the golf course?!
Don’t know what it has done to the property values. A Realtor would know more about that one. But the Town spent in and around a $million. + the money that was spent by the residents in the area. From what I understood is that Glenway went to the Town initially to sell. The Town said “No Thank you” and then went to a developer and sold it to them. That’s when all hell broke loose. The Town and residents lost as was expected.
15:08
I guess the answer depends on what happens.
Right now, the Glenway fairways are overgrown with high grass and weeds. This certainly makes the existing homes less desireable.
If they were allowed to proceed with what they planned, there would be a 9 hole course and the developed properties would have a positive impact on existing properties.
Of course people that complain about how the property values go down forget that they can also get property tax relief for the same reason.
But, you can't please everyone.
I heard an ad on the radio today warning of the potential penalties for those caught with illegal smokes(ie. tax not paid). The ad goes on to advise that these illegal products are the work of the organized crime network. It asks if you want to support organized crime.
Further, it was reported there will be a snitch line so you smokers trying to have a drag on the trail or in the park could face double trouble if your smokes are contraband.
I am not a smoker but was left wondering what is the alternative for smokers - support underground organized crime and save a buck or support the above ground network at Queen's Park and feel good about paying the high taxes on the retail price?
As mentioned, I am not a smoker but generally never feel good about paying excessive taxes. Maybe a trip to one of our First Nations might be the ticket.
13:46
Aurorans are not to be told where coyotes live. Last time there was a sighting, they held a town meeting to demand their ' removal '.
12:45
Riding in an elevator can bring things besides left over smoke and smells.
Just ask Sheila Copps.
15:56
Organized Crime is a bit of a questionable claim.
Tobacco products can be purchased on Indian reserves. They are in similar packages to commercial brands. They are loaded with all sorts of leaves and twigs. very little is "premium" tobacco.
Smugglers bring Canadian made tobacco products across the border via boats in the middle of the night.
Who is going to snitch? The same people that snitch when someone downloads a song from the internet or goes to the library and borrows a CD only to make a copy of it at home?
17:11
Wrong. Tobacco products on the reserves are the same as those to be purchased at grocery stores - just without the taxes.
Normally we only walk on the golf courses when the season has closed. If Highland is closing, we will have access all year without guilt.
18:10
No, you are wrong. If you go to a real reserve, they have their own brands. You can't rely on what you see when you go up to Rama to watch the Doobie Brothers and then stop at the Smoke Shop.
9:21
One does not buy those brands. Purchasers select cartons which they recognize. And I am not holding Rama up as an example.
@ 9:21
Rama is not a " real " reserve ?
Play a lot of soft-ball with the kids up there, do you ?
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