With just one month to go until lifetime Airspace member Tamina Gurd and her two daughters (ages 10 and 13) embark on a huge humanitarian aid effort in Malawi (Africa), Airspace would like to publicly thank all of the individuals/families who have so very generously donated to Project A.B.L.E. (A Better Life for Everyone) thus far.
Unfortunately, the need for further funding still exists. Please continue to support Airspace...and Project A.B.L.E.
Just a few of our more recent successes, as well as some ongoing efforts:
- Just a few weeks ago, Airspace played a pivotal role in getting Susan Ivey, President and CEO of Reynolds American (one of the biggest tobacco companies in the world) kicked out of the White Ribbon Alliance... in just 3 days (the WRA's current campaign focuses on reducing/eliminating the horrendous death toll of women in childbirth);
- Airspace also played a big role in persuading pop star Alicia Keys to give the royal boot to the tobacco company ("A MIld") which -- until just a week prior to her July 31 concert in Jakarta, Indonesia -- was the main sponsor. Just days after putting that fire out, we became involved in the effort to get the Eraserheads to scrap the "Marlboro" sponsorship of their August 30 reunion concert in the Philippines;
- We helped tobacco farmers achieve their $300,000,000 exit package (announced August 1), via collecting signatures on a petition and lobbying Members of Parliament. Unfortunately, that is $300 million of taxpayers' dollars, whereas our plan called for a levy (of anywhere from a nickel to a quarter, per package) on cigarettes, which could have raised a billion dollars (the original target) in very short order, at little or no cost to taxpayers...at least, that vast majority of taxpayers who do not smoke. In any case, with virtually no tobacco farming occurring in Canada now, all levels of government have no excuse whatsoever for continuing to treat the Canadian tobacco industry with kid gloves. It's time to end the long-standing slap-on-the-wrist policies...and start treating the industry like the sleazy, despicable, predatory and rogue industry that it truly is;
- Airspace President Errol E. Povah is largely responsible for Canada's -- possibly the world's -- first 100% smoke-free condominium. The 42-unit Oliva, in the Tsawwassen area of Delta, B.C. opened in June, 2007. It took several phone calls over a period of a couple of months (while the project was still under construction) but, since the president and CEO of the company was very interested in making it a 'green' building (with many of the materials being recycled and/or otherwise 'environmentally-friendly', etc.), Povah managed to persuade him that "100% smoke-free" would be a perfect fit. We continue our lobbying efforts, provincially, for legislation that will provide 100% smoke-free living in ALL multi-unit dwellings (apartments, condos, townhomes, duplexes, basement suites, etc.).
- We are stepping up our efforts to get Canada to comply with both the intent of (if not the letter of) existing federal anti-tobacco legislation, as well as a World Health Organization treaty -- the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control -- which Canada ratified a few years ago. One of the most blatant local offenders is the Georgia Straight, Vancouver's so-called News and Entertainment weekly... in which it's not uncommon to see 3 or 4 full-page full-colour tobacco ads (for both cigarettes and snus/chewing tobacco).
Again, thank you so much to ALL of our members and/or donors, past, present and future...but an especially big THANK YOU to those who have already so generously donated to Project A.B.L.E.
If you would like to donate, please send your cheque to: Airspace Action on Smoking and Health Box 18004, 1215c 56th St. Delta, B.C. V4L 2M4 And please be sure to write "Project A.B.L.E." in the "memo" space.
You can also contribute to us with PayPal (click button below).
For more info about Project A.B.L.E., please contact Tamina Gurd via e-mail, at taminac AT shaw.ca.