Public smoking should be banned.

> Why do these health hazards get a free pass?

Cazzy Lewchuk
Opinions Editor

 

[erent loathe cigarettes. I’ve
never smoked one in my life, and
I believe they are one of the most
dangerous habits to indulge in.
Cigarettes kill thousands of people
every year, and have zero health benefits.
They can affect one’s health negatively
in so many ways, are one of the most
addictive substances on the planet,
and are just disgusting in general.
Cigarettes smell terrible, create smoke
and ash, and damage the environment
as they are even a fire hazard.
It’s illegal to drink alcohol in public.
In areas of the US where marijuana is
legal, smoking it in public remainsillegal,
and Canada will likely follow suit during
legalization in 2018. It’s against the law to
smoke inside any public building. So why is
it okay to light up in outdoor public areas?
Many provinces have legislation

banning smoking within a certain
distance of doorways. This varies by area
and is difficult to enforce. If someone
is walking down the street and passes
a doorway but immediately keeps
walking, they’re technically breaking
the law, but most likely will not be
punished. In addition, this still allows
second-hand smoke to annoy and irritate
others, as it does in any public space.
Second-hand smoke is proven to affect
others’ health. Even without the specific
health hazard, it’s gross and annoying.
Nobody wants that smell and smoke
wafting into their face. Cigarettes create a
nasty and lingering stench around where
they’re smoked. If you are a smoker, that’s
your choice, but your habit should not
be affecting anyone else around you.
I don't feel much sympathy for
smokers and I encourage them to quit
by any means necessary. I believe a
blanket ban on smoking in public would
contribute to this greatly. Nevertheless,

 

I understand that some people will
smoke no matter what. Just as private
outdoor spaces have designated
smoking areas, there’s no reason why
public spaces can’t have the same. Areas
where smoking is allowed should be
the exception rather than the norm, if
it must be allowed in some capacity.

 

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The government encourages
everyone to quit smoking and provides
free resources to do so. Further banning
the practice in certain areas would
reduce the amount of cigarette use.

If we can't smoke other substances in
public, why are cigarettes the exception?

Canadians deserve better equality
across the provinces

> Why do Ontario and Quebec have all the benefits?

Cazzy Lewchuk
Opinions Editor

 

mM? Canadians enjoy the same benefits
across the country. We all have the
same Charter, the same (federal) taxes, and
the same national laws. However, provincial
laws, taxes, and other financial matters

can and do vary greatly by the province.

This does not serve to create equality for all
Canadians.

The instability in Canada could lead us
to experience a situation similar to that in
the US, where different states and regions
are distinct enough that they are almost
separate countries. The living standards
and inequality that varies from state to state
wildly affect the culture and economy of the

area. More importantly, it affects the rights
of citizens on a national level, which divides
the country.

The minimum wage in Canada varies
from province to province. While the cost of
living also varies, prices are still somewhat
similar in areas across the country. Urban
areas tend to be more expensive, with
rural areas being cheaper but with far less
resources. Why should a person doing the
same job in British Columbia make less
than someone in Alberta, simply because of
where they live?

It’s not right that we Canadians have
different incomes, laws, and opportunities
based on the area we live. We pride
ourselves on national unity, but we can’t
even agree if a person should be allowed to
buy alcohol at age 18 or 19.

Ontario has lately seen a huge string
of progressive policies. The minimum wage
is set to go up to $15 by January 1, 20109,
college education is becoming free, and a
“basic income” funding pilot project is in
the works. Almost a third of Canada lives
in Ontario, and I think it’s great that these
parts of the population get to enjoy the
benefits. However, it does a great disservice
to the rest of the country by not providing
the same equity.

Manitoba, Quebec, Saskatchewan, and
Newfoundland have tuition freeze laws in
effect, so that the cost of post-secondary
education cannot get any higher. These
policies do not extend to other provinces
(even though BC previously had one in
place), which hurts anyone who chooses
to go to school in these areas. Canadians

constantly move from other provinces to
go to school in cheaper places. A national
consensus on education costs and rights
needs to be established.

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms
specifically guarantees citizens the rights
to pursue the gaining of a livelihood in any
province. Yet an individual living in Ontario
suddenly earns a much larger minimum
wage and has access to free tuition.

If the federal government wanted
to, it could work with premiers to provide
these or similar benefits for the population
as a whole. The Liberal government is a
centrist administration that believes in
“strengthening the middle class.” In the end,
this rewards areas with strong economies
and large populations and punishes the
people further from those areas.

Traditional film vs CGI and visual effects

> The debate on films and movies

Jerrison Oracion
Senior Columnist

 

history of cinema. Two highly anticipated

ms were released on that day, and they
both involved movie technology. It also
continued the debate between film and
digital. There was a glorious IMAX film
shot in 7omm, Dunkirk, about a beach
evacuation during World War II, and a 3-D
CGI adventure, Valerian and the City ofa
Thousand Planets. The film that is number

one may determine which format is better.
Traditional film (as opposed to
digital) is starting to make a big comeback,
beginning with The Hateful Eight, which
was released in a 7omm roadshow style.

Jr 21 began an important weekend in the
I

The film tried to recreate the experience of
aroadshow, with an intermission included
in the movie. Christopher Nolan’s latest
film, Dunkirk, talks about an evacuation of
British soldiers from a French beach during
World War II and is shown from three
perspectives: the ground, the water, and the
air. Nolan is a supporter of traditional film
and is also big fan of IMAX, and 70 per cent
of the film is filmed in IMAX. He wanted to
make a movie that created, “the sensation

of virtual reality without the goggles.”

I saw Dunkirk in IMAX on 7omm film.
The IMAX scenes are very sharp and have
a lot of colour, especially during the scenes
that take place in the air. Most of the scenes
that were filmed in 7omm are very grainy
and are not as colourful as the IMAX scenes.

Depending where you sit in the theater,

it works well to put you in the movie and
lets you experience what the soldiers had

to go through during the evacuation. The
film does not have a lot of dialogue, which
means that they could use of the IMAX
camera more, as it is a very noisy camera.
Hans Zimmer’s score is great because it
uses the sound of a clock ticking to enhance

the score until the end of the movie.

The other highly anticipated movie
that was released on that weekend is
Valerian and the City of a Thousand
Planets, which the commercials promoted
as a 3-D event. The director of The Fifth
Element and this film, Luc Besson, isa
big fan of the original comic book series
that the movie is based on. When the

film was announced at Comic-Con last

year, a lot of people were excited for it.

While I would like to see Valerian, I
decided not to because of the final box office
results. Overall, Dunkirk was number one
with $50 million, Valerian and the City of
a Thousand Planets was number five with
$17 million. It didn’t even reach number
two, which went to the comedy Girls Trip.
This shows that a lot of people prefer
traditional 7omm film, because Dunkirk
does not have CGI in it and Valerian isa
visual effects driven movie. Valerian is
one of those movies that could be great,
but did not do well in the theatres.

With the success of Dunkirk, we
will probably see more films being
released in 7omm in the next few years.