WINNIPEG — Officials at St. Boniface Hospital say they have asked city by-law officers to dedicate a few days on their property next month to help re-educate the public on smoking rules after a Selkirk man filed a complaint.
Bert Innes voiced his frustrations to both the hospital and media after he and his wife tried to come outside for “a breath of fresh air” earlier this week. His wife had recently undergone surgery for colon cancer.
There are several benches set up outside the hospital for patients to use but Innes says no matter where they tried to sit, a cloud of smoke followed.
“Frustrated, very frustrated,” Innes said.
In the loop in front of St Boniface Hospital there are at least ten no smoking stickers or signs. On the sidewalk near them there are also cigarette butts littering the ground.
“If you can’t read, go to school,” Innes said.
The hospital has had a no smoking policy for well over a decade.
WATCH: Archived story about smoking rules changing at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg in 1990
But St Boniface director of communications, Helene Vrignin, says enforcing it “remains a challenge.” Security officers can instruct smokers to move off the property but they can’t enforce the by-law.
That law was introduced in 2011 and it prohibits smoking within eight meters of an entrance to a hospital, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority space or City of Winnipeg work place.
First time offenders could be hit with a fine of no less than $100 and no more than $500.
The city says in four years they’ve handed out only four fines.
It is not just a problem at St Boniface. Smokers blatantly ignored the no smoking signs in front of the Health Sciences Centre and entrances to malls.
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