Smoking ban in social housing worries Thunder Bay advocate

A spokesperson for a Thunder Bay mental health consumers group says the District Social Services Administration Board, or DSSAB, should help new social housing tenants quit smoking — if it wants to stop them lighting up in their suites.

Jasmine Cotnam of PACE said she's worried a new ban on smoking in social housing could result in smokers losing their homes.

"I think it's going to cause a lot of unnecessary evictions," Cotnam said, adding that if smokers are being asked to quit smoking indoors, there should be supports in place to help them kick the habit. 

The DSSAB adopted a new policy at its board meeting last week, banning smoking in all the buildings it owns and operates, including in private suites.  

The policy exempts current tenants, but bans tenants moving in after Sept. 1 from smoking indoors. 

The board will help connect tenants with smoking cessation programs in the community, said DSSAB chief administrative officer Bill Bradica.

It will only evict tenants as a last resort, after repeated violations of the smoking ban, he added.

"What we want to do is work with people and try to help them find resources that might be able to assist them," he said.

The Thunder Bay District Health Unit offers both one-on-one counselling and group workshops, free of charge, to those who need help kicking the habit, said Janice Piper, the health unit's manager of injury prevention, substance misuse and tobacco.

Bradica said the DSSAB has received a number of complaints from non-smoking tenants about second-hand smoke in buildings and is concerned about the cancer-causing effects of the smoke on non-smoking tenants.