City of Powell River councillors will consider directing staff to bring back a report on disposal of cigarette butts at the city’s harbour facilities.
At the May 20 committee of the whole meeting, Jan Slakov appeared as a delegation regarding having a disposal unit at the city wharf by the ferry terminal. She said she was asking that council direct staff to install a unit at the north boat harbour near the ferry terminal, and also to bring forward a motion to the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) to reintroduce the idea of a province-wide cigarette deposit return system.
“Physicians for Smoke Free Canada have stated that for several years, they promoted the use of deposit return systems at provincial levels to address cigarette waste,” said Slakov. “In 2016, the UBCM called for such a system, but the then-provincial government rejected that idea. If we keep coming back, hopefully they will do it. Also, it would be great to have public education on this.”
Slakov said in 2023, after moving to Texada Island, she began regularly using the ferry terminal and noticed there were lots of cigarette butts littering the dock right near the terminal. She said people are not allowed to smoke on BC Ferries property, so people go to the north boat harbour to smoke.
“I began picking up those butts, but it’s pretty disgusting, and of course, I can’t pick them all up,” said Slakov. “I reached out to city staff in 2023 and asked for a designated cigarette disposal unit at the dock. In the end, nothing was done. I was told the parks department would do it and I tried to meet with the head of the parks department and wrote emails.
“Since nothing was happening, I put a coffee can with a sign as a temporary disposal bin. At the end of the summer, someone removed that.”
Slakov said this year, she is hoping something will be put out in time for the tourist season, which is already underway.
“Cigarette butts are toxic, they are not biodegradable, and they are a major threat to marine ecosystems,” said Slakov. “The World Health Organization reports that 30 to 40 per cent of urban and beach litter consists of cigarette filters. These filters leach more than 7,000 chemicals, at least 60 of which are known carcinogens, into the environment.
“The next step I would really appreciate is a response, indicating whether council intends to act on this request.”
Councillor Cindy Elliott said the process for the UBCM is a matter of individual councillors coming forward with motions to their councils to try and get support to bring the motions forward to UBCM.
“Members of the public can work with any particular councillor to help bring those forward,” said Elliott. “You could approach your friendly councillor, whichever one you like to work with, and they could try to help you bring forward a UBCM motion. I would support such work being done.
“We could ask for staff to put this onto a future agenda. I would make a motion that we direct staff to bring back a report for putting cigarette disposal units at our marine facilities.”
The motion was carried unanimously.
Councillor Jim Palm asked if director of parks, recreation and culture Jamie Bretzlaff had any input. Part of Bretzlaff’s portfolio is managing the harbours, said Palm.
Bretzlaff said he would be happy to reach out and receive more information.
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