An anti-tobacco group has come out with a survey it says shows almost 80 per cent of Manitobans support a ban on smoking in cars when children are present.
The Manitoba Tobacco Reduction Alliance Inc. (MANTRA) released the results of its survey, carried out by Prairie Research Associates, this morning.
"We're calling on the provincial government to enact legislation to ban smoking in cars where children under 18 are present," Murray Gibson, MATRA's executive director told at a Winnipeg press conference. "Education is useful but often times you need legislation to enforce it."
If legislation is passed to ban parents from smoking with their children in the car, around seven in 10 of those surveyed support either a fine or a fine paired with license demerit points to enforce the ban, the results indicated.
About 90 per cent of those surveyed said they support a smoking ban in all public places, Gibson said.
MANTRA said Prairie Research Associates randomly surveyed around 400 adults by phone between Jan. 18 and Feb. 4. Those who participated were asked 26 questions about their views on smoking, including smoking bans in all public places, extending the ban in restaurants, a ban on smoking in cars or the home where children are present and whether they are a smoker or anyone in their house smokes. The income, education level and age were also collected.
The accuracy of the survey is plus or minus five per cent, 19 times out of 20, MANTRA said.
meghan.hurley@freepress.mb.ca
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