Saskatchewan Housing Authority units to go smoke-free August 1

Heather Gray is pleased the province is finally implementing a provincial no-smoking policy in all properties owned or leased by Saskatchewan Housing Corporation (SHC).

Smoking (including marijuana) and vaping will not be permitted on SHC property except in designated outdoor smoking areas. The ban includes ceremonial smoking, and no exceptions will be made for tenants with a medical prescription for marijuana.

Smokers can continue to live in their units, but neither they nor their guests will be permitted to smoke indoors.

The no-smoking policy will take effect Aug. 1.

“It’s tremendous that they’re finally doing it,” Gray said.

She and her then 14-year-old son AJ were tenants of Regina Housing Authority in 2011 when they started raising concerns about the effect of second-hand smoke on their health.

Smoke infiltrated their home after chain-smokers moved in below their unit.

“My son’s asthma flared up and it was pretty much under control before then,” Gray said. “I was wheezing and coughing and I was pretty scared because it was getting worse and the smoke triggered migraines multiple times a week.”

When her complaints weren’t addressed, she and three other tenants of Regina Housing Authority buildings launched complaints to the Office of Residential Tenancies (ORT) in January 2017.

Regina lawyer Carly Romanow represented them.

In a precedent-setting case in Saskatchewan, a Court of Queen’s Bench judge upheld the rights of tenants to be free of second-hand smoke in a March decision.

SECOND-HAND SMOKE

The case is a recognition of the real hazards of second-hand smoking, said Romanow, who was excited about the SHC no-smoking policy announced Wednesday.

“A lot of tenants that are within social housing programs are very vulnerable, especially in regards to their health,” she said. “I think that this is a positive thing and it’s good Saskatchewan is moving in that direction.”

Saskatchewan is the second jurisdiction in Canada to implement a provincewide no-smoking policy in government-owned housing. Yukon was the first.

“The health and safety of tenants is of utmost importance to us,” Paul Merriman, social services minister and minister responsible for Saskatchewan Housing Corporation, noted in a news release. “Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable disease, disability and death in Canada and the dangers of second-hand smoke are widely documented. A no-smoking policy will provide tenants in SHC units with safer and healthier living environments.”

The Canadian Cancer Society and the Lung Association of Saskatchewan applauded the provincial government’s move to protect the health of children, seniors and others who are sensitive to the effects of second-hand smoke.

HEALTH CONSEQUENCES

Both agencies receive calls from people suffering health consequences from second-hand smoke in their dwellings, but can’t get landlords to address their concerns.

Many people fear retaliation if they complain about second-hand smoke, said Donna Pasiechnik, tobacco control manager with the Canadian Cancer Society.

“One of the tenants involved in the ORT ruling last year was terrified to take her case forward,” Pasiechnik noted. “She thought she’d be evicted. It wasn’t until two other people came forward with similar issues that she agreed to file a complaint.”

Everyone should have access to a smoke-free home, said Jennifer May, vice-president of community engagement with the Lung Association of Saskatchewan.

“The reality is drifting smoke from one unit to another harms peoples’ health,” May said. “This is a great step for the province of Saskatchewan to be supporting smoke-free social housing.”

Jeanne Labelle-Potvin was among the four complainants. She’s since moved from the Regina Housing Authority building, but she welcomed the announcement on behalf of residents “who are trapped there by smokers.”

“They finally have relief in sight … Those buildings are basically toxic,” she said.

After 41/2 years of inhaling second-hand smoke, Gray and her son moved out.

“Unfortunately we ended up moving to a place that costs twice as much money in rent,” she said.