Hello everybody in Canada, and all over the world. Happy Canada Day to you all. Special greetings to my fellow Canadians in other provinces. I was born in Ottawa, Ontario but moved after nine months to Quebec for the first five years of my life. I guess you could say I have Anglo-Quebecker roots. My mother grew up Franco-Ontarian, her mother a Montrealer and my great-grandmother is Fransaskois from Saskatchewan.
Phew! What a tongue twister.
In Canadian Literature we talk often about the "Two Solitudes" a landmark 1945 novel by Hugh MacLennan about English Canada versus French Canada. It won the highly esteemed Governor General's award for Literature in 1948.
Well, I can tell you that I have witnessed over the years a trend among Quebeckers smoking more and statistics bear this out. Long after restaurant smoking in Ontario was prohibited, Quebec still permitted smoking sections in food courts.
Yukk! Check out this Link
Quebec's rate in 2011 was 19.8%, whereas Ontario's was only 16.3%.
The national average was 17.3%
Check out the Canadian Cancer Society's link
How many people smoked in 1948? And how many people will continue to smoke
in fifty years from now in 2064?
The Two Solitudes may never see eye to eye in terms of language or politics, but will both Ontario and Quebec achieve tobacco-free status? I believe the language of the heart begs all Canadians to reconsider our customs and habits.
This Canada Day I hope you are outside enjoying all the festivities safely and healthily!
Let's make Canada the first tobacco-free nation! :)
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