Hundreds of people gathered at Queen’s Park on Saturday afternoon to protest the Liberal government’s decision to prohibit the use of e-cigarettes in public spaces.
Last May, the province passed legislation which banned the use of e-cigarettes in designated non-smoking areas and placed new restrictions on the sale or promotion of e-cigarettes.
In a news release issued Saturday, Vapor Advocates of Ontario claims that by including e-cigarettes in its existing anti-smoking laws the government is “violating the constitutional rights” of residents who rely on the product as a “smoking cessation strategy” as well as store owners who allow the sampling of e-cigarettes inside their shops.
“We are here today to prevent harm to the Canadian population,” spokesperson David Richmond-Peck told CP24 at the protest. “Tobacco-related illnesses are the number one cause of death in the country and it is because the Canadian government makes these products available on every street corner. As opposed to that e-cigarettes have been proven by enormous numbers of public studies to be safer.”
The protesters met at Bay and Bloor streets at 12:30 p.m. and then marched to Queen’s Park for the rally.
The protest comes on the heels of another demonstration by the group in December.
