Survey results online re creating smoke-free nights in Kahnawà:ke

04/05/2016

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke (MCK) would like to inform the community that results of the survey to gauge public opinion on creating smoke-free nights for local establishments and clubs is now available for viewing at www.kahnawake.com.

A total of 282 surveys were completed online and in-person via information kiosks led by Ietsénhaienhs Kahsennenhawe Sky-Deer.

The results show that if non-smoking nights were offered in Kahnawà:ke, 88% (247) would ‘often’ or ‘sometimes’ attend an establishment. Moreover, there are 24% (70) of total participants who do not currently attend establishments that allow smoking. However, 79% (56) of the 70 would attend if they offered smoke-free nights. These numbers indicate positive support towards the initiative

Ietsénhaienhs Sky-Deer met with representatives of the local clubs and establishments to gauge interest in moving forward. "There is already some positive movement as H20 is now smoke free every day during their kitchen hours 11am to 9 or 10pm, and Maddie’s Place is now smoke free on Sundays,” she said. “There also seems to be some interest by the social clubs to test this initiative, provided all of them take part on the same nights," said Sky-Deer. "Based on the results of the public survey, the community is ready for smoke-free nights and I’m hoping each establishment will consult with their own membership to fine-tune how they will carry this out."

The next step to establish the smoke-free night initiative is to coordinate the details of when and how frequent they will be scheduled. "The MCK isn′t forcing this initiative onto establishment owners, but in order for change to occur you need to start slowly,” concluded Sky-Deer. “All that I’m hoping is that that the Kahnawà:ke social clubs and bars try to find a fair compromise to take into consideration the non-smoking population that exists in our community. I don’t think a few non-smoking nights per month is going to kill their business in comparison to how smoking is linked to killing people. It’s time to do the right thing."