May 18, 2010 - Thunder Bay is now among the leading communities in Ontario that have established a bylaw restricting smoking around children’s play areas in City parks.

Effective June 1, 2010, smoking will be prohibited

•  within 10 metres of playground equipment
• within 10 metres of public beach areas; and
• within 10 metres of the entrances to recreational facilities like hockey arenas, community recreation centres and the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium.

“This bylaw is a great move by City Council because it has responded to the idea of protecting our children from exposure to smoking and smoking litter in the areas where they play,” says Ken Ranta, Manager of Tobacco Programs at the Thunder Bay District Health Unit. 

Thunder Bay joins the Ontario cities of Woodstock, Waterloo, Collingwood, Sault Ste. Marie and Toronto which have also initiated bylaws regulating smoking in public parks.  Vancouver recently announced that smoking would be banned in all city parks and beaches effective September of this year.

 Anyone looking for more information about the new tobacco-free parks and beaches bylaw is encouraged to call either the City Bylaw Enforcement Office or the Health Unit.

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