Smoking Bill was Government's 'Real Coup,' According to Hamm by BRIAN FLINN, The Daily News Source: Halifax (NS) Daily News, 2002-05-31, via tobacco.org Region:CANADA Category: Smokefree Policies URL: http://www.canada.com/search/site/story.asp?id=11A401EF-28D3-448B- 8CB0-B0B13D99C6C5 The Hamm government pushed its Smoke-Free Places Act through the legislature Thursday, before adjourning for a five-month break. Lt.-Gov. Myra Freeman signed 29 bills into law, ending a 42-day spring session that saw the arrival of a couple of watershed pieces of legislation that were slightly tainted by their passage through the House. The government congratulated itself for an anti-smoking law it calls the strongest in Canada, but Tory MLAs had to fill 20 hours with talk to keep backbench colleague Barry Barnet from tabling an amendment to make it a complete smoking ban. Last month's budget accomplished an election promise to eliminate the deficit, but both opposition parties continue to dog the government about the provincial debt, which continues to grow because of capital investment. Premier John Hamm called the budget a "real turning point for the government," but said he is especially proud of the anti-smoking law, which bans cigarettes in many public places and limits them to smoking rooms in restaurants effective Jan. 1. "I think getting the anti-smoking bill through was really a coup for government," Hamm said. "There was a mood that this bill will be so controversial we shouldn't bring it forward at all. We discussed it at length and thought putting it off would simply be putting off something that should have been done a long time ago." He said the government will pay a political price from those who think the law is too tough or not tough enough; that's why seven provinces still have no bans on tobacco. NDP Leader Darrell Dexter said it's the province's non-smoking majority who will be most disappointed in the government. "This government was unable to pick up the ball that had clearly been lobbed to them by the public that very much wants a complete ban," he said. In the end, the bill passed by a vote of 28 to 21, with the Liberals and NDP opposed and every Tory in the House including Barnet voting in favour.
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