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Ban smoking in vehicles, Children

 Here it comes – a further erosion of rights



Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said yesterday that he is reconsidering his opposition to an Ontario-wide law that would ban smoking in vehicles where children under the age of 16 are present.

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McGuinty was initially against the proposal because he felt it would lead to a slippery slope of denying rights to Ontarians. Now, after being pressured by his Minister of Health Promotion and a backbencher who has introduced a private members’ bill making smoking illegal in cars with kids, he is reconsidering. It’s scary to think that the person who fears that a “slippery slope” will occur is the one with all the power to control that slope. The present state of Ontario is such that McGuinty faces no opposition from the other parties in the legislature, especially the one that has the word “conservative’ in its name. The premier, who never found an area that he couldn’t regulate further, should seriously consider passing a law requiring truth in advertising when it comes to the names of political parties, but I digress. The problem is not with the proposed law to ban smoking in front of children in confined spaces. It is that the slippery slope that McGuinty once feared will now become unstoppable. It’s not too much to ask adults to refrain from lighting up in vehicles where children were present; they should simply wait to smoke in a place where there are no children; someplace like a bar. Oops, the political correct forces have already prohibited that activity even in venues where children are not allowed. And that’s part of the problem. It will be still be legal to sit in a car, close all the windows and smoke a pack of cigarettes before picking up junior at daycare. The next step will then become a total ban from smoking in vehicles regardless of whether or not anyone under the age of 16 is present. If that doesn’t work, OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino, who’s responsible for enforcing the law throughout Ontario except of course in Caledonia, will come out and say that smoking while driving, much like what now is defined as racing, is just as dangerous as drinking and driving. One way or another, there will be a total ban on smoking in cars. If smoking is prohibited in vehicles that carry children, then it is only a matter of time before the move is extended to private homes. The arguments are the same; that children are trapped in a closed environment and need to be protected. That, like the vehicle example, will be extended to homes whether or not kids are actually present. Slowly, little by little, whatever rights we have will be taken away. It wouldn’t even be so bad if these restrictions on our freedoms were confined to smoking. But they won’t be. Now there is talk about banning certain advertising of fast food that target children. These types of restrictions can be justified on the grounds that in modern day society, parents can’t be trusted to look after the health of their own children. The government has to do it. In the future there will be more and more restrictions placed upon us in the name of the children which will ultimately be extended to adults. What will happen with smoking will then be extended to fast food and then any food that the powers that be consider to be bad for us. So Dalton McGuinty will go down the slippery slope that he once feared; and the opposition across the aisle will be standing and applauding him. None of this bodes well for individual freedoms.

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Arthur Weinreb -- Bio and Archives

Arthur Weinreb is an author, columnist and Associate Editor of Canada Free Press. Arthur’s latest book, Ford Nation: Why hundreds of thousands of Torontonians supported their conservative crack-smoking mayor is available at Amazon. Racism and the Death of Trayvon Martin is also available at Smashwords. His work has appeared on Newsmax.com,  Drudge Report, Foxnews.com.

Older articles (2007) by Arthur Weinreb


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