I would like to comment on the terrific job your paper is doing with following up on the smokers who congregate outside the cancer clinic.
As a patient of the Fraser Valley Centre myself, I have been subjected to this deplorable situation on countless occasions. I have registered my complaint with the hospital both by telephone and in person to the administrative offices. I have emailed Mayor Dianne Watts directly, only to be redirected to the Surrey bylaws Department.
After speaking with the administration of both the hospital and the cancer centre, as well as the Surrey bylaw department, while they are all very sympathetic to my complaint, it always came down to there was very little they could do.
We are talking about people’s lives here – people who are already dealing with a very serious illness and having to be subjected to second-hand smoke every time they have to go into the centre for treatment. Is that right?
I would have to ask, why do we have security guards on payroll at the hospital if it isn’t one of their jobs to move these smoker along? I may be wrong but I do believe our tax dollars are paying their wages – what for? I myself have on numerous occasions reminded people that it is a designated smoke-free area outside the cancer centre and have received insults, but each time I go to the centre and there is a smoker, I will continue to remind them.
Joanne Pearson
