It's about equal treatment before the law.
Manitoba's law banning smoking in almost all public places took effect in October 2004, the same month New Brunswick brought in a similar law. Saskatchewan followed suit in 2005, while Ontario and some other provinces enacted their laws more recently.The cigarette thing is less of a bother to me than say, terrorising and holding an entire town hostage for months... but you get the idea.
Manitoba's law specifically exempted native reserves, federal prisons and other areas where the provincial government felt it did not have jurisdiction.
A Court of Queen's Bench judge ruled last year the exemption violated the rights of non-natives to equal treatment under the law and ordered the province to apply the law on reserves.
So much for "Justice is Blind."
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