Toronto Film Festival to get tough with smokers

By Mary McSweeney Sep 1, 2007, 17:14 GMT

Ontario officials say they will fine anyone, including stars who smoke in public places while attending the Toronto International Film Festival next week.

Jim Watson, the Minister of Health Promotion, said yesterday to Tony Lofaro, of CanWest News Service, that he wants to avoid the "kerfuffle" of last year when Sean Penn smoked it up onstage for the press junket despite the province's antismoking rules, when he was promoting his latest movie.

"No one is above the law, and just because you happen to be famous or in the movies doesn't mean you can snub our laws and endanger people in the process," Mr. Watson said.

Penn escaped a fine but the Sutton Place Hotel, which hosted the event, had to pay $605 for failing to inform visitors about the anti-smoking rules according to Lofaro.

The health promotion ministry allegedly notified film festival officials encouraging them to "get the message out" so that all will be aware of the restrictions on smoking in public places outlined in the Smoke-Free Ontario Act (SFOA), which came into effect in May, 2006.

"The SFOA requires proprietors and employers to ensure the public is aware of the prohibition on smoking, post appropriate signage as prescribed by the legislation, and ensure no person smokes in prohibited areas.

"Non-compliance with these obligations could result in charges being laid," says the letter addressed to Noah Cowan, a co-director of the film festival.

Mr. Watson said his ministry and the Toronto Public Health Unit intend to get tough about the province's no-smoking rules.

The actors coming from California and New York have to respect the no-smoking rules in their own states and woe to them if they come to Ontario and expect to break the law that everyone else abides by, hinted Watson.

Lofaro reports that Penn returns to the festival for a movie he directed titled "Into the Wild," a true story of a young man who gives up everything to live in the Alaskan wilderness. The film stars Emile Hirsch, Vince Vaughn and William Hurt.