My flying visit to Toronto

Twenty years ago this week I visited Toronto for the first and only time.

The trip was prompted by work because at the time (2005) we were fighting the threat of a workplace smoking ban. Canada was ahead of the UK in that respect, with several provinces having already banned or partially banned smoking in indoor public places.

There had been relatively little organised opposition in Canada until the launch of an industry funded campaign called MyChoice. Founded in September 2004, it had an initial budget of 2.5 million Canadian dollars (approximately £1.4 million) so I was curious to see how and where the money was being spent.

Nancy Daigneault, a professional lobbyist, had been appointed ‘president’ (a peculiar North American affectation) and I was keen to swap notes. We met for lunch and she impressed me enormously. She didn’t hide the fact that she was a political lobbyist and I respected her for that. Most impressive was the fact that within a few months she had managed to attract 40,000 subscribers to the MyChoice website.

“How did you do that?”, I asked. It turned out that MyChoice spent a considerable sum of money on radio ads, using Canada’s commercial radio network to promote their fledgling campaign. As well as attracting support, media interviews quickly followed. As an example of how to launch a start-up campaign it was hard to beat, even in a field as challenging as smokers’ rights. I picked up several other tips during that lunch so it was time well spent.

A second person I arranged to meet in Toronto represented another industry-funded campaign. Twenty years later I can’t remember the name of the group, but its purpose was similar to that of a UK group called Atmosphere Improves Results (AIM).

AIM promoted the idea that installing modern air filtration systems to reduce or remove most of the particles from tobacco smoke in bars and restaurants was better for the hospitality industry than banning smoking outright.

If I remember the Toronto-based group promoted the same message, but momentum was on the side of the anti-smoking industry and, not for the first time, the campaign was launched too late to change politicians’ minds.

The same could be said of MyChoice, and two years later the tobacco industry (prematurely, in my opinion) withdrew financial support. Nancy Daigneault moved on (today she’s described as a ‘crisis communication expert, with over 25 years of experience dealing with media and crisis communications’), with MyChoice limping on for another year or so before being wound up.

Short-sightedly however the URL was allowed to lapse and for a while it was adopted by the anti-smoking industry. Visit mychoice.ca today however and you’ll find a car insurance comparison website so it could be worse.

However, the highlight of my one and only visit to Toronto was meeting teacher and musician Matt Finlayson, co-writer of ‘The Smoke Police (A Resistance Waltz)’, a song critical of smoking bans.

The song features lyrics by poet Eric Layman, a friend of Matt’s. It was recorded in 2004 and features on Route 101, an album by Matt’s band The Intended (not to be confused with another Canadian band of the same name). I enjoyed both the ‘The Smoke Police’ and the album, which features some great songs, so I was delighted to meet Matt whose hospitality went far beyond what I had any right to expect.

We met on my first evening in Toronto when he gave me a tour of the city in his car. He subsequently invited me to dinner at his house where I met his wife (and Eric Layman, who died in 2008). I also saw his band play live at a bar in the city. Last but not least, he drove me to Niagara Falls, a round trip of 160 miles, where we had lunch overlooking the Falls.

We subsequently lost contact, as you do, but last year, after he stumbled on a previous blog post I had written about my trip, Matt got in touch and we had a long chat on Zoom. It was great to catch up.

Unfortunately the photos I took in 2005 were taken on a digital Fuji camera that became obsolete soon after the launch of the iPhone two years later, and although I still have the camera I can’t download the photos from the memory card that came with it.

Nevertheless, I remember that trip with enormous affection, and although I’ve not been back to Toronto we did visit Vancouver in 2019 and I enjoyed that too. Another trip to Canada is definitely on my bucket list but it’s a vast country so the question is, where to go?

PS. I’ve just remembered that on the outward bound flight to Toronto in 2005 I was upgraded to business class, only the second time that has ever happened to me.

The first time was on my honeymoon when my wife and I were flying from Heathrow to Miami and the BA cabin crew took pity on us after we were allocated seats several rows apart!

But the Toronto flight was the first time I had a seat that could be converted into what was effectively a bed. Complimentary champagne plus good food and several hours’ sleep - if every long haul flight was like that I might enjoy them rather more.