By John Francis
Bruce County has two serious problems at the Bradley Davis seniors apartments in Tobermory. The obvious problem is the need to restore the building to habitability after the June 23 fire. The less obvious — but much more difficult — problem is the need to accommodate both smokers and non-smokers.
The building dates to the 1980s, meeting the construction and safety codes of that time. That is to say — it has a common attic, rudimentary air circulation and no sprinkler system.
That means that if anybody smokes, anywhere in the building, the hallways and common areas… stink. And if you open your door, then your apartment stinks, too. Residents tell me that this is a constant issue — the hallways are never free of the smell of smoke and sometimes it’s so thick it makes your eyes water.
Bruce County has abdicated any responsibility for solving this problem. Sitting in their office 150km away, they rationalize their inaction with a wall of obfuscatory protocols, bolstered by ever-so-convenient privacy and confidentiality concerns.
They refuse to say whether the rules are being broken. Are the people chain-smoking in their rooms allowed to smoke in their rooms? Or are they in constant, flagrant violation of the terms of their tenancy?
This leaves the smokers and the non-smokers pitted against each other in a way that is deeply unfair to both groups.
It’s easy to blame the smokers for the problem, but that’s both unfair and unproductive. They are victims, too. It’s not like smoking is a free choice — it’s an addiction. But it’s not just an addiction, it’s an addiction that we boomers were encouraged to take up.
Everywhere we looked (or listened) during our formative years — radio, TV, billboards — we were confronted by Joel Aldred extolling “Rothmans — the greatest name in cigarettes” or Fred Davis telling us that “The trend today is to DuMaurier”. Catchy theme music, adorable cartoon dogs — tobacco advertising tried to target everybody’s weak points.
For a lot of us, it didn’t feel like we had a choice.
I managed to quit, forty-some years ago, but it was the hardest thing I have ever done. I have a lot of sympathy for those whose circumstances were different and who never managed to quit. They aren’t bad people. They just have an unfortunate addiction. They deserve decent accommodation just as much as anybody else.
But smokers’ rights should not trump everybody else’s right to a healthy, pleasant living environment. It’s not fair that people are forced to live with the health consequences and constant stench of second-hand tobacco and marijuana smoke.
But what is a tenant to do, other than complain to the landlord? What is a landlord to do when faced with such complaints?
Bruce County has elected to act as if the problem doesn’t exist, or as if it is a trivial matter of some unknown person sneaking the occasional puff.
But concentrating on the smell ignores an even more important issue: the risk of fire. Many Bradley Davis residents are convinced that the June 23 fire was caused by careless smoking. They are concerned that this could easily happen again and that the presence of medical oxygen dramatically increases the potential severity of any fire that might start. (Statistics show that smokers are much more likely to need medical oxygen than non-smokers.)
Concerns about fire risk definitely make some residents anxious. Do they have a right to feel safe in their apartments?
Our municipality has not weighed in on this issue. The building is, after all, a county facility, so why would they?
But some residents point out that the county is funded by our taxes, and governed by representatives of all the municipalities. Our mayor sits as a County Councillor, they say, so our municipality should be advocating for its citizens whenever they get short shrift from the county.
It’s a persuasive argument.
As it happens, there’s a municipal election coming up later this year. Perhaps council candidates (if there are any — it’s four weeks before nominations close and nobody has registered yet) could be reminded of the need to advocate for our citizens when there is friction with Bruce County.
But before we get too far into the weeds, what outcome do we want here? What would success look like?
Do we want a separate county facility for smokers?
Or do we want to accommodate smokers and non-smokers in a way that is fair to both groups?
It shouldn’t be difficult to install a ventilation system that prevents smoke in one unit from permeating the whole building. I’m pretty sure you could retrofit a sprinkler system in units that are occupied by smokers (or move the smokers to a building that has sprinklers).
I suspect that the hardest part will be getting Bruce County to acknowledge that there is a problem. Solving it would be easy by comparison.
