North Vancouver city council amends smoking bylaws, raises fines

It’s going to get a lot harder to find a place to light up in North Vancouver.

The City of North Vancouver amended its smoking bylaws Monday night, making it forbidden to smoke cigarettes, cannabis, or vape products in any public park.

Any public plazas, green trails, and the entire Lonsdale Shipyard area were also added to that list.

North Vancouver Mayor Linda Buchanan says the idea is to make public spaces more family-friendly.

“We really want to make sure people can be outside and enjoying the outdoors without being exposed to second-hand smoke,” Buchanan said.

City council also approved a ban on advertising vaping products on any outdoor property owned by the city, including any bike racks or transit shelters.

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Buchanan says it’s to protect young people.

“A lot of these companies are multi-billion-dollar companies,” she said. “They spend a lot of their time focusing their advertising on youth, and thinking this is a good thing for them to be doing.”

And if you’re caught smoking in any of those areas, fines have tripled from $70 to $230.