Shop Talk with Thomas Kirsop

  A letter is printed in a newspaper. The author shares it on Twitter. I comment. Author responds. I reply. A question gets asked: "Alberta is the only province that does not regulate vaping. Why?" ... and here we are. Now I can't speak for the government, but there are several plausible reasons why the revisions to the TOBACCO AND SMOKING REDUCTION ACT, Statutes of Alberta, 2005, Chapter T-38 have not yet been proclaimed. How plausible varies. Some would be pretty glaring, some not so much. 1) Generally, Albertans are perceived as "independent", "personal rights" focussed, "Don't tread on me" types.   I offer this as neither an accolade nor an admonishment. It's a generalization. It's a stereotype. It also has a grain of truth to it.  Decades of "right" leaning governance. Home of such quotes as "Shoot, shovel, shut up" as a public statement from a premier in response to an issue with bovine spongiform encepha

  Stats: Alberta had an 18.9% smoking prevalence rate (Canadian Tobacco, Alcohol, and Drugs Survey – CTADS, 2017). Sturgeon River-Parkland has a population (2016) of 120,784 people. Statistically, roughly 22,828 Sturgeon River-Parkland residents smoked tobacco in 2017. Morinville had a population (2016) of 9848 people. Statistically,   1,861 Morinville residents smoked tobacco in 2017   I have two retail locations in your riding (Morinville est. 2016, St. Albert est. 2018); however, I will speak primarily to the Morinville location as the statistical analysis is easier to discern due to fewer confounding factors. ---- My business, Alternatives & Options Vapourizers and E-liquids Ltd . opened its doors in Morinville in February of 2016. Currently, that location serves 250 customers a week, the vast majority of whom are former smokers. This consumer count is the equivalent of 13.4% of Morinville's statistical smoking population from 2017. The 2019 Canadian