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Letters November 5, 2001
Mr. Rod Bryden
Dear Sir, As you may know, the City of Ottawa adopted new smoke-free regulations in April of this year. The bylaw was passed unanimously by City councilors and came into effect this past summer. I am writing you today to express concern with the evident support of the Ottawa Senators in a campaign to reverse this important and popular health initiative. As a prominent organization in this community you must have an interest in the mitigation of harm related to second hand smoke. PUBCO is an organization that has been active in legal and community action to overturn Ottawa's new by-law. I noted from the PUBCO website that a recent fundraising event was held on October 3rd. The PUBCO website reports on the event and says, "Many suppliers supported the event, but special thanks must go out to Molson Breweries and the Ottawa Senators who pulled out all the stops on this one." I am sure you would agree that the Ottawa Senators have an important leadership role in society, and have a long tradition of providing healthy role models for youth. It surprises us to find this same corporation aiding a campaign set on overturning a health related initiative that was unanimously endorsed by City of Ottawa councilors just a few months ago, and an initiative that has garnered an overwhelming measure of public support - as noted in a recently published Decima survey. You will understand that we are alarmed to read that the Ottawa Senators "pulled out all the stops" in support of the PUBCO fundraising event. I hope it is not the case that the Ottawa Senators intend to continue funding and supporting PUBCO's pro-smoking campaign. However, if this were the Ottawa Senators' intent, I would hope you would find time to learn more about our new smoke-free by-law and the widespread support it has gained from the public, city councilors and the hospitality sector. Yours sincerely, Carolyn Hill
cc.
Marshall Johnson
Jacques Martin
Mayor Bob Chiarelli
Dr. Robert Cushman
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