Thank you. Mr. Speaker, today I’d like to talk about something that is a pet peeve of mine. I don’t know if anybody’s ever seen those pet peeve surveys, but this is a pet peeve of mine. I was reminded of it when Ms. Lee was giving her Member’s statement on cigarettes, on smoking.
Mr. Speaker, there’s only one thing that amazes me more than the fact that people smoke, and that is the number of smokers who throw their cigarette butts on the ground. Most people understand that littering is not a good thing. We teach our kids that they shouldn’t toss litter out the car window and they shouldn’t toss their litter on the ground. Occasionally it’s been interesting for me to sit outside of a store, like Canadian Tire here in Yellowknife, and watch smoker after smoker after smoker walk up to the door of Canadian Tire and flick their butts on the ground. I just sit there in amazement. I guess they don’t think anybody’s watching or paying attention.
Mr. Speaker, each year when our snow melts we see the incredible amount of debris and litter on the ground. Some of it’s easy to pick up, but one thing that’s not very easy to pick up is those annoying cigarette butts. I think that society has finally got the message that second-hand smoke is not acceptable. I think that most building owners who offer accommodation and service to the public can appreciate not having to deal with all the maintenance associated with cigarette smoke. I don’t think that cigarette butts are very biodegradable — they’re litter. So if someone can tell me why a person who wouldn’t dream of tossing a candy wrapper on the ground wouldn’t hesitate for one minute to flick a cigarette butt on the ground, I’d be very curious to hear that answer.
Maybe someone should invent a butt receptacle that could fit inside a smoker’s pocket or on one side of the cigarette package and they can carry them around with them. If someone can tell me why I should be expected to facilitate or clean up someone else’s cigarette butt, I would gladly receive that explanation, Mr. Speaker. It is something that I surely do not understand.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
