Clearing the air of cigarette smoke in government subsidized senior buildings is a slow process, says a housing official.
Chris Reeves, provincial coordinator for housing with the Department of Family and Human Services, says 41 such buildings are designated as non-smoking buildings. However, only 19 of those buildings are actually completely smoke-free.
The problem is the government cannot force smokers in the building to either stop smoking or to move out since they were there before the buildings became designated as smoke-free.
Only non-smokers will be allowed to fill any vacancies that open in the 41 buildings designated as non-smoking government subsidized senior residences.
“It’s a work in progress,’’ says Reeves.
There are currently 60 buildings for seniors subsidized by the province that are designated as smoking buildings.
However, smoking in all of the 101 government-subsidized senior buildings must take place in the units of the smokers, not in hallways or common areas.
“Obviously, we do get complaints,’’ he says of the buildings designated smoke-free that still have tenants who are allowed to smoke.
He says the province started work on implementing a smoke-free policy for government-subsidized senior buildings but the process takes time.
Far too long, according to Frank Morrison of Smoke-Free P.E.I.
Morrison says his group and many others have been pushing the province for years to make all government services and properties completely smoke-free.
The process with making government subsidized seniors apartment buildings smoke-free, he says, is going way too slow.
“Action has to be taken,’’ he says.
“We expect the government to take the lead on this and do it ASAP. As the leading landlord in the province, the government needs to take the lead.’’
Reeves notes 25 per cent of the top 100 seniors on a waiting list for subsidized housing are smokers.
“We have a wait list for smokers and we have a wait list for non-smokers,’’ he says.
Morrison would like to see government be “very proactive’’ in offering cessation programs to residents of non-smoking seniors apartments that are currently smoking in their apartment units.
He adds non-smoking residents of such apartments are “devastated’’ by the impact of second-hand smoke.
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Editor's note: A previous version of this story quoted an Island woman who lives in subsidized housing. Tamara MacDonald does not live in a senior's complex. Her comments on general government-subsidized housing can be found here: LETTER: Poor air quality gets even worse
