Guelph may follow in McMaster's footsteps with campus-wide smoking ban
Could be controversial as people look at their rights, Conestoga VP says
The University of Guelph is considering going smoke-free after McMaster University in Hamilton announced plans to do so starting in January.
"I think it's a wonderful initiative," Don O'Leary, the vice president of finance and administration at U of G, told CBC News.
"It's something that we've discussed here at Guelph as well, so it's really great to see that McMaster's moved forward."
McMaster's move makes it Ontario's first "100% tobacco and smoke-free campus," but O'Leary said there are other schools across the country that are moving in the same direction.
The university is conducting an employee engagement survey next month and O'Leary said he's hopeful a smoking ban will be something staff say they'd like to see implemented.
Status quo in Waterloo region
None of Waterloo region's post-secondary institutions currently have any concrete plans for change.
Wilfrid Laurier University said their smoking policy will stay as-is for the time being.
University of Waterloo spokesman Matthew Grant told CBC K-W though there have been some casual discussions about smoking restrictions on campus, right now the plan is to keep the status quo.
Conestoga College said it will be watching the developments at McMaster with interest.
"I think it's a bit of a controversial move, in the sense of people looking at their rights and what they can and can't do by choice," said Mike Dinning, vice president of student affairs at Conestoga College.
"But from a health perspective, it would be hard not to support what McMaster's doing."