Smoking banned in parks

Photo: pixabay

A Similkameen community has banned smoking in public parks.

Keremeos council unanimously voted this week to impose a $100 fine on anyone caught smoking in Memorial or Pine parks.

"This came to the forefront because of all the wildfires we had in the area and in the whole province, some of the parks are really dry," said Mayor Manfred Bauer. "The whole focus was mainly on Memorial Park at first, but because of the fire hazards in other areas we decided it was time.”

Bauer said when village staff went to the local senior centre with the idea last month, they were met with applause.

"This is really to protect children, seniors, visitor centre employees and to make a point that we want to be proactive in terms of starting a fire."

The public parks will now have signs at the entrances warning people about the consequences if they are caught smoking.  

Bauer added that the impact of secondhand smoke could have on children playing on the playground or water park also factored into the decision.

“This is really more about protecting others than trying to tell smokers to quit." Bauer said. "You want to smoke? Just don’t do it in our parks."