Zeal For Truth

A majority of Ontarians support the idea of extending Ontario’s smoking ban (Smoke Free Ontario) to include rental apartments. That’s right, people’s private residences. I’ll pause for a moment while our Libertarian readers catch their breath. 37% of respondents opposed such a ban. This is actually good news given that only 15% of Ontarians smoke. Assuming all 15% are against such a ban, that leaves 22% of Ontario’s non-smokers out of the “self-righteous, anti-choice” category.

It is certainly easy to see the logical progression taken by the 60% of the population that would try to regulate a legal activity within private residences. They assume:

1. Second-hand smoke has been proven scientifically to cause cancer.
2. Such a ban would have no effect on them personally.
3. Those smokers should quit anyway.
4. It is acceptable for the government to make moral choices for people.

While one can certainly understand the logical progression leading to support of this ban, there is only one problem with these steps; each and every one of them is false.

The “science” behind the second-hand smoke craze is at best shaky and at worst outright deception. In fact, a massive study of 118,000 people over 40 years found no major effect associated with second-hand smoke. While the evidence continues to point to second hand smoke being virtually harmless, momentum continues to push public opinion the other way.

It is human nature to be more concerned about one’s personal interests than the freedom of others. That fact alone, however, is not sufficient to justify selfishness in our modern world. The foundation of a free society is freedom of choice. While a balance must always be struck between personal freedom and the “common good”, weight should always be given to freedom first. Charles Mingus eloquently highlighted this fact in his adaptation of Martin Niemöller’s famous poem:

One day they came and they took the Communists
And I said nothing because I was not a Communist
Then one day they came and they took the people of the Jewish faith
And I said nothing because I had no faith left
One day they came and they took the unionists
And I said nothing because I was not a unionist
One day they burned the Catholic churches
And I said nothing because I was born a Protestant
Then one day they came and they took me
And I could say nothing because I was as guilty as they were
For not speaking out and saying that all men have a right to freedom

Perhaps the proposed ban won’t affect that 60% of the population, but where do we draw the line? What happens when a majority of the population decides that you shouldn’t enjoy chocolate? Drink coffee? Eat fast food? Slug back a beer? Cook food that has an odour? Perhaps even those who support smoking bans in bars would have a different opinion if they owned a restaurant and were told they could serve only vegetarian meals and bottled water.

The Western World is running into many tough questions and choices as we try to allow personal freedom while also creating a good society for everyone. We will have many difficult choices as we tackle the problem of global climate change (which requires collective action to resolve). Abortion, spanking, gay marriage and polygamy are all issues that will continue to spark a great deal of controversy. While the answer is not always clear-cut, it should always be deliberated within the paradigm that individual freedom of choice is of paramount importance in a just and free society.