Monday, May 22, 2006

Butt OUT!!!

From The Toronto Star:

Heather Crowe, considered by some to be the face of Canada's anti-smoking movement, has succumbed to lung cancer in Ottawa at age 61.

The long-time waitress is widely known for television ads in which she describes how she contracted cancer from second-hand smoke at the restaurant where she worked.

Crowe's passing comes just one week before the Smoke Free Ontario Act comes into effect in Ontario.

The act will ban any smoking in any enclosed public places and will add restrictions to the promotion, handling and display of cigarettes in stores.

Liberal MPP Jim Watson (Ottawa-West-Nepean) was a frequent customer at the restaurant where Crowe worked and calls her the "matriarch of the anti-smoking movement."

He says Crowe told him she really wanted to live to see the anti-smoking legislation come into effect.

"It's very sad that she's not going to be here to see it, but she should be very happy that because of her influence, Ontarians will be able to breathe easier as a result of the legislation on May 31," said Watson.

Watson said Crowe was an unlikely activist.

"She fell into this anti-smoking passion because she experienced first-hand what so many people have suffered over the years."

Last time I checked, my NOT smoking doesn't kill anyone ...

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