Innisfil | Ontario

By-Law No. 021-16, A By-Law of The Corporation of the Town of Innisfil to amend By-law 111-13, being a by-law to Prohibit Smoking and Use of Tobacco Products at all designated Town of Innisfil Outdoor Sports and Recreational Spaces.

The bylaw has a very broad definition of smoking that includes all tobacco products and e-cigarettes. In general, the definitions in this bylaw are well-worded and useful for other municipalities to review when developing their on bylaws. The bylaw prohibits smoking within 9 m of all sports and recreation fields, spectator seating areas, playgrounds, public beaches and the waterfront trail. It is also prohibited in all municipally-owned parks and their parking lots.

Products Included

Cigarettes, Cigars, Pipes, Electronic Smoking Devices, Other Tobacco Products

Definitions

“Smoke or Smoking” includes the carrying of a lighted cigar, cigarette, pipe or any other lighted smoking equipment or product, including but not limited to electronic cigarettes or other nicotine delivery devices.

“Second-hand smoke” means: i. exhaled smoke; ii. smoke from an idling cigarette cigar, pipe or any other nicotine delivery device or any other tobacco using or constructed device.

“Tobacco product” means tobacco in any processed or unprocessed form that may be smoked, inhaled or chewed, including snuff and snus.

“Nicotine delivery device” means any product which when smoked causes nicotine to permeate the environment without restriction, and includes electronic nicotine devices such as e-cigarettes.

“Park” means any Town owned and/or operated parkland, open space, parkette, green space, waterfront, trail, walkway and pathway. This includes any vehicle parking areas associated with the parkland maintained by the Town

“Playground Equipment Zone”, means an outdoor area that is located within a playground park

“Public Playing Field and Recreation Spaces”, means field(s) and/or land(s), of natural and/or man-made composition that are used for athletic purposes to conduct organized or unorganized sporting activities to include but not limited to baseball diamonds, soccer fields, tennis courts, and associated outdoor field, outdoor ice rink, splash pads, gazebos, picnic shelters, skateboard park, public beaches, waterfront trail and amphitheatre.

“Spectator Seating Area” means an outdoor area with tiered seating or benches used for the viewing of athletic events, or other organized or unorganized sporting events.

Places Smoking Prohibited

Beaches
E-cigarettes (outdoors)
Parks
Playgrounds, which may include Splash Pads and Wading Pools
Sports and Recreational Fields and Facilities
Trails

Buffer Zones

Playgrounds - Buffer Zone 11-20 m
Sports and Recreational Fields and Facilities - Buffer Zone 11-20 m

Policy Analysis

The bylaw refers to the Municipal Act, 2001, Subsections 11, 115, 425 and 426 in its preamble, which give it more latitude than just Subsection 115, as most Ontario municipalities use. This bylaw is leading edge because it includes all tobacco products and e-cigarettes. It also prohibits smoking on trails and beaches. However, the use of designated smoking areas is not recommended. Furthermore, the bylaw does not address the use of electronic cigarettes indoors, which could be covered in an amendment to Bylaw 012-03.

Enforcement

In the 2.5 months before implementation Parks Staff established an advertising schedule to advise residents of the new by-law and January 1, 2014 implementation date. This was expected to reduce enforcement issues. In addition, signage was posted at the outdoor facilities to provide on-site acknowledgment for community members, as well as visitors.

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