Background. In Ontario, the 1994 Tobacco Control Act allowed municipalities to legislate on second-hand smoke in public places. Public health departments were then mandated to promote the passage of smoke-free bylaws in various municipalities. Their efforts have met with varying degrees of success. However, in 2001, the city of Ottawa public health department successfully promoted the adoption of one the cornerstone 100% smoke-free bylaw in Canada.
Objective. The purpose of this study was to examine the factors that influenced the process of municipal councillors' adoption of the Ottawa smoke-free bylaw.
Methods. This mixed-methods case study focused on the public participation aspect of the case through the analysis of interviews, public opinion surveys and newspaper articles using qualitative, quantitative and triangulation methods.
Findings. The study identified four critical elements in the passage of the smoke-free bylaw: (1) Initiation of the bylaw development process, (2) Municipal councillors' position before the final vote, (3) Municipal councillor's final vote and (4) Municipal councillors' position after the final vote. Five lever factors (1) Perceptions of public opinion, (2) Public participation, (3) Dynamics of the democratic process, (4) Context of the smoke-free bylaw development and (5) Context of newness were found to have influenced the critical elements, each in a particular way. Lever factors are presented as characteristics of the context of the bylaw adoption that increased the effect of the strategies and interventions conducted by the groups supporting the passage of the bylaw.
Discussion. This case study identifies conditions that enhance the leverage of tobacco control strategies and highlights how the convergence of factors is key to successful tobacco control policy change at the municipal level.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/26631 |
| Date | January 2004 |
| Creators | Dyke, Julie C |
| Publisher | University of Ottawa (Canada) |
| Source Sets | Université d’Ottawa |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 195 p. |
Page generated in 0.0014 seconds