Huron County council has approved a bylaw recommended by the health unit that bans smoking on any county-owned property.
Senior Health Promoter Angela Willert says the bylaw prohibits smoking of any kind on county-owned property. However, she adds that there are some exemptions for residents of homes for the aged, because of the provisions in the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, as well as exemptions for social housing and affordable housing properties because there is already a smoke-free policy for them.
Willert says figures indicate the number of people smoking is going down and adds e-cigarettes are not restricted at this time, because there is not enough conclusive evidence to indicate they're a problem. But she says if that changes, the bylaw could be adjusted to include e-cigarettes. The bylaw still has to be confirmed at December's regular council meeting.