Vancouver bans smoking in public outdoors

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- A new smoking law in Vancouver, Canada, bans lighting up in 244 parks and various other outdoor public places, but not everyone is complying.

Kathryn Tatchell, a lung-cancer patient, and her two daughters breathed in secondhand smoke at Kitsilano Beach Wednesday -- the day the law went into effect, the Toronto Globe and Mail reported.

"That does bother me. Just a few days ago at the beach someone started smoking, so I had to move," said Tatchell.

"Secondhand smoke is an invasion of your own health. If people were respectful, then that law wouldn't have to exist," said Tatchell's daughter, Georgia Graham, who lives in Vancouver and supports the smoking ban.

Smokers, however, were the exception in the city's parks the first day of the ban, the Globe and Mail reported.

Those who violate the law, passed unanimously by the Vancouver Park Board in April, face a $250 fine, the newspaper said.

"We are there to make sure that all Vancouverites, and even visitors, are able to come down and have a reasonable expectation that they can enjoy the parks, beaches, playgrounds and not have their health put in harm's way," said Park Board Commissioner Aaron Jasper.

"This is about public health, and your right to smoke should not have an impact, or should not prevent other people from coming down and using that same space. It's about helping smokers realize that their habit and their activity is putting their neighbors, their friends, their families in harm's way," said Jasper.