A truck driver from London, Ont., has been fined $305 for smoking in the cabin of a tractor-trailer because it is considered a workplace.
Essex County Ontario Provincial Police pulled over a truck on Highway 401 near Windsor, Ont., at about noon on Wednesday after the driver, 48, was seen smoking.
He was fined under the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, a 2006 law that prohibits smoking in enclosed workplaces and public areas such as bars and restaurants.
An enclosed workplace can also be any vehicle that is covered by a roof and that employees work in or frequent while working, regardless of whether "they are acting in the course of their employment at the time," according to the legislation.
Police spokeswoman Shawna Coulter told the Windsor Star it was the first time Essex County provincial police had enforced the legislation.
Neil MacKenzie, the manager of tobacco programs for the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, said his group has laid 10 charges for vehicle-related offences since the law went into effect, to taxi drivers and construction workers, among others.
With files from The Canadian Press
