[GraphicMatt]

Jesus Christ, do people actually feel unsafe on the TTC? Do you ignore statistics, reality and your senses in favour of Toronto Sun covers as a general rule?

 

[SunriseChampion]

If someones smoke is bothering you, ask them to put it out. If they tell you to get bent, then they're being a jerk. If they move away, what else do you want? And if they put it out then I think they're being very accommodating. Don't expect them to do things they're not obligated to do without you asking.

That's what I was originally talking about. It has to do with common courtesy and respect.

Not in all situations, can one be rightfully expected to not smoke just as in not all situations can one be rightfully expecting to be able to smoke.

Why should I not be able to have a cigarette on an empty train platform (GO Train, to be clear)? I'm outside. If I stood on the other side of the platform fence and blew my smoke towards the platform, I'd be doing nothing illegal.
And, as I said, if I am waiting around and there are people beside me, I'll ask them if they mind. It's simple and I really don't buy the fact that we have to legislate things to keep hypothetical jerks in line.

These sorts of misguided laws do nothing to help anyone in reality and are just really poor attempts at social engineering and appearing to follow some sort of due dilligence on the part of legislators.


PS: Common sense is more important than any law anyway. I continue to smoke on GO train platforms when I choose if there is no one around who it could potentially bother and then when there are, if I ask and they don't mind. The law there hasn't changed my behaviour one bit and never will. And yes, I have been asked by GO Transit provincial offences officers to put out my cigarette before.

 

[nfitz]

nfitz, I'm surprised to hear people feel so strongly against a thing which is only an bother to them.

Why wouldn't they feel strongly about it? Someone has made a choice to be totally uncivil, and do something so vile. Smoking in public is extremely rude, and completely uncalled for. Only a very poor excuse for a human would do something so horrible.

As for smoking being socially unacceptable, I disagree..

Are you completely and totally out of touch with society???????????

It's less acceptable than it was, certainly, but banning it from bus stops is just another example of people getting on a high-horse when it won't change a thing.

Hang on, I never suggested banning it. I spoke out earlier that it made no sense to ban it. Where on earth did you get that from?

 

[SunriseChampion]

Smoking in public is extremely rude, and completely uncalled for. Only a very poor excuse for a human would do something so horrible.

Well, then.


Apparently, I'm a poor excuse for a human being. My friends, family, and acquaintances are going to be surprised to learn of this.

 

[nfitz]

My friends, family, and acquaintances are going to be surprised to learn of this.

I'm sure they've smelled it coming ...

 

[Whoaccio]

Is there any reason to believe that this will increase public health in a measurable way? Protecting the public from second hand smoke is one thing. Wildly imposing laws on smokers for no reason other than to punish smokers is something else though.

 

[SunriseChampion]

I'm sure they've smelled it coming ...

Oh yes, of course....the one measure of a man is whether he smokes outside or not. All other attributes and actions be damned.

At least you keep your metrics of a person's character simple.

 

[SunriseChampion]

Is there any reason to believe that this will increase public health in a measurable way?

Of course it won't....and I want to see someone try to prove otherwise.

Second-hand smoke isn't prevalent and constant enough to make a measurable health difference to a non-smoker standing at the side of an urban street, waiting for a bus.

 

[nfitz]

Second-hand smoke isn't prevalent and constant enough to make a measurable health difference to a non-smoker standing at the side of an urban street, waiting for a bus.

Neither is farting loudly on a TTC bus.

 

[SunriseChampion]

Neither is farting loudly on a TTC bus.

Precisely, and so is not illegal, and any attempt to illegalise it would be silly.....just like this smoking ban.

 

[nfitz]

Precisely, and so is not illegal, and any attempt to illegalise it would be silly.....just like this smoking ban.

Which is exactly what I pointed out earlier.

But anyone who purposely goes around farting in public is clearly a piece of s*!

 

[lordmandeep]

Jesus Christ, do people actually feel unsafe on the TTC? Do you ignore statistics, reality and your senses in favour of Toronto Sun covers as a general rule?[/QUOTE

lol, your the one being blind.

Such incidents of people being pushed of subways, someone being stabbed happening once a year on the TTC at most in the past.

So far this year, it has happened many times and its because of the much higher ridership which means you get more troublemakers and criminals on the system. With this higher ridership I think more security is needed on the system.

Also stats say TTC crime rate is up but mostly due to the higher ridership. Reality says instances of violence have increased on the TTC.

I think your the one out of your senses.

 

[GraphicMatt]

A few extremely well-publicized incidents do not make for an unsafe transit system. Security is important, and it's good to see that security staff has been added, but the TTC is an extremely safe transit system. The media has been shameless on this issue.

 

[TKTKTK]

Why wouldn't they feel strongly about it? Someone has made a choice to be totally uncivil, and do something so vile. Smoking in public is extremely rude, and completely uncalled for. Only a very poor excuse for a human would do something so horrible.

Honestly, smoking in public (in the open air!) is extremely rude? How would you quantify your attitude then? Hyperude?

How can someone smoking a cigarette elicit such a venomous response? Are they extinguishing their cigs on your arm? Ashing in your coffee?

Jesus. Some people's kids.

 

[Transportfan]

Those who think a sidewalk smoking ban is a good thing should read this:

Imagine a place where private homes contained government-monitored smoking rooms, citizens were not allowed to purchase more than one cheeseburger a month, and you needed a special drinking permit to consume alcohol. Where the only dog you could own was a neutered chihuahua, and where daycare was compulsory for all children from ages 2 to 5.

Welcome to Canada, 2020, otherwise known as Regulation Nation. A place where individual liberties are a thing of the past. A country where, in the name of the collective good, bad habits have been disallowed, or made so difficult to practice that people simply give them up. A place where the objective of a healthy, well-behaved population takes precedence over silly things like freedoms (wasn’t there a Charter for that, once?), and where the government knows better than you how to raise your kids.

Smoking was the first habit to feel the wrath of the state. In 2020, smoking is not only regulated in public places, restaurants and workplaces, but in private homes as well. In households with children, smoking is illegal, even on porches. Adult-only dwellings must contain a ventilated enclosed smoking room monitored by closed-circuit cameras hooked into a state tv system. Only four people at a time are permitted to use the room, to reduce the risk of fire and assure the ventilation systems are not over-taxed.

Next on the list was fatty food. In 2020, fatty food is rationed, and all citizens must report to their local Cholesterol Monitoring Station every two months. Random tests are also practiced at work. If your cholesterol rises above a certain level, your cheeseburger credits can be withdrawn for up to an entire year. Of course, this has created a huge black market for such credits. Cheeseburgers can also be purchased in unlimited quantities on aboriginal reserves, which have enjoyed a corresponding surge in the number of McDonald’s franchises.

Alcohol also made the government’s hit list. Thanks to a new Temperance Movement, modelled on the gun control movement of the latter part of the previous century, you now need a special Alcohol Permit to purchase and consume liquor. Anyone who has a history of mental health problems, or has been through a separation or divorce, cannot obtain the permit or can have their permit taken away.

Other aspects of citizens’ lives, such as child-rearing, are also regulated. After successfully campaigning for a universal state-run daycare system, activists went one step further and demanded that attendance be made compulsory. They cited statistics showing that children in daycare could read earlier, were more independent, and had a higher opinion of labour unions than children reared at home.

More importantly, daycare tots were less exposed to the potentially detrimental influences of their parents, who, after all, had no formal training in how to raise children! That was now left to professional child-care workers, enabling all parents to work and pay taxes to fund the “free†daycares. Some people contend that parents who can prove they are properly qualified should be allowed to keep their kids away from daycare until they enter kindergarten at age 5. The federal government is ready to compromise on this and has set up a Royal Commission to study the issuance of “Early Parenting Permits†to parents who have followed the necessary training in licensed Parenting Academies.

This scenario may seem extreme, but unless citizens question and check the power of an ever-growing government, it might sadly yet become reality. Back in the early 21st century, some saw Regulation Nation coming, but were either ignored or dismissed as crazy. Their warnings started when Ontario banned pit bulls and junk food from school cafeterias back in 2004. Smoking bans in many provinces’ bars and restaurants began taking effect around the same time. Though the gun registry looked like it would be repealed in 2006, a change of federal government reinstated it, and also brought in state daycare. Next the government started regulating trans-fats. But since all these measures were deemed “good for youâ€, citizens who opposed them were vilified, and failed to mobilize enough support to repeal them.

There is nothing wrong with educating people about the benefits of healthy lifestyles, or preventing them from causing direct, provable harm to others. But we must demand that the state strike a reasonable balance between the exercise of one’s personal freedom and the infringement on the freedom of others. Government must respect the rights attached to property ownership, one of the cornerstones of a free society. It must also respect the right of other institutions, such as the family, to decide what is in the best interests of its members.

In the end, it’s up to us to stand up and speak out. Let’s make sure that Regulation Nation remains an Orwellian dystopia, and never becomes the Canada of 2020.

Tasha Kheiriddin is Executive Vice President of the Montreal Economic Institute.

http://www.iedm.org/main/show_editorials_en.php?editorials_id=438