Fighting the Smoke Ban

As in the United States, the tobacco industry has been using hotels and restaurants to front for its interests in Canada. "One of the key tools cigarette manufacturers used in this effort was the Courtesy of Choice campaign, a worldwide public-relations effort that grew out of a partnership between Philip Morris's Accommodation Program and the International Hotel Association," writes David Rodenhiser. "Courtesy of Choice aimed to head off government legislation by championing non-smoking sections and ventilation systems as a better solution. The campaign was backed by millions of dollars in tobacco blood money. ... Cigarette manufacturers are fighting a desperate and cynical battle to keep smoking from being snuffed out as socially unacceptable. For them, every government restriction is ground lost. So they've enlisted hospitality industry lobby groups as their field marshals, who in turn have used the owners of bars, restaurants and inns as their foot soldiers."