For immediate release: Wednesday, May 28, 2003

EDMONTON – The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees’ participation in an anti-tobacco advertising campaign shows the union remains committed to smoke-free workplaces for all of its members, AUPE President Dan MacLennan said today.

MacLennan made the comment after full-page advertisements appeared in the Edmonton Journal and the Toronto Globe and Mail denouncing federal backpedaling on Ottawa’s plan to fight the smoking epidemic.

The advertisements were financed by a coalition of 29 anti-smoking groups, health organizations and public service unions, including AUPE. The ad was timed to appear before World No-Tobacco Day on Saturday, May 31.

"Second-hand smoke has been clearly shown to be a health hazard for non-smokers," MacLennan said. "There can be no excuse for subjecting government employees to second-hand smoke in their workplaces, thereby endangering their health.

"As I have said repeatedly, if governments do not end smoking in their workplaces, they are inevitably going to face extremely expensive lawsuits from employees and former employees whose health is damaged by the presence of second-hand smoke at work," he said.

"It is wrong to subject government employees to the health risks of second-hand smoke, and it is wrong to subject taxpayers to the financial risks of lawsuits stemming from uncontrolled second-hand smoke," MacLennan said.

MacLennan noted that AUPE believes all government of Alberta worksites – including jails and other residential facilities – should be declared completely smoke free.

The advertisements, in the form of an open letter to federal Health Minister Anne McLellan, take the federal government to task for delays in its strategy to control and reduce smoking by Canadians.

For more information, contact:
Dan MacLennan, President, AUPE, 780-930-3301 or 780-910-8392 (cellular phone)
David Climenhaga, Communications Director, AUPE, 780-930-3311 or 780-717-2943 (cellular phone)