exposé

2009

2009 was a great year to be an advocate fighting the tobacco industry. At John McCrae in the spring we wrapped up our school year with a barbecue, (with veggie dogs too). Hundreds of students came out and signed post cards for the Flavour... Gone! campaign. This fall on September 30th I had the privilege of attending a demonstration in support of bill c-32, an act to amend the tobacco act. This bill would deal a fatal blow to the tobacco industry’s marketing to youth through flavours in their products. It was a great experience. Canadian youth were obviously not happy about flavours in tobacco products. Over 10,000 postcards signed by Canadians all over the country and thousands of students like myself, were delivered to the senators. The demonstration was very successful. A lot of people honked their horns in support of bill c-32. Following the demonstration, we attended the senate committee meeting for bill C-32. exposé’s own Phil Jansson spoke in front of the committee in support of bill c-32. His speech was amazing! The most memorable experience from that day was going up against all the lawyers and representatives for some of the Tobacco Industries that were protesting the bill. One of them even sat next to our group (awkward). It was quite funny. Just a few short weeks after Phil’s statement at the senate, Bill C-32 was passed.

All I want to say is congrats exposé on having a very successful year! Let’s make 2010 an even better one!

Best Wishes, -Tanner-

exposé Uncut

For any of you fence-sitters still debating about whether it's going to be worth it to attend the Uncut Film Festival this year, you can take it from me that this festival will be nothing short of extraordinary.

How do I know? I spent much of the past weekend previewing the entries, and they are fantastic. Despite the fact that not everyone chose to focus specifically on this year's theme (Taking Back the Arts), the creativity and talent displayed by all entrants is proof enough that Ottawa's youth don't need to rely on any industry to express themselves.

We received movies from anglophones and francophones alike, tobacco consumer or not. We received comedies, documentaries, and artistic stories. Heck, there were even a couple of homemade songs in there. The only constant link between all these noteworthy films is the high level of creativity. So do yourself a favour: support your local talent, and check out Uncut. With all the different creative styles being showcased, you're bound to see something you like.

Chris

Zombie Walk

November 14th, 2008, Lester B Pearson High School saw dead people. Literally. The exposé team at LBP decided it would be a good idea to expose the truth about big tobacco in a more aggressive way than usual. In honour of the well-known statistic " 1 out of 2 long-term smokers will die due to tobacco related illnesses ", half of our team dressed up as zombies. We paired up in two's and paraded around the hallways of the school, linked together by a rope attached to our wrists. The half of the group who were not dead were wearing white T's with a sign on them saying, " I survived a tobacco related illness...", while the zombies sported INTENSE makeup and hospital robes, with a sign saying "I didn't..." Some students at Pearson were scared out of their minds, while others laughed in our faces and went outside for a smoke. Mostly all teachers and staff members loved our idea, and supported us fully. In spite of the few students who thought our "Zombie Walk" was comical, we got a great amount of signatures on our Lester B Pearson G-BAT banner. Overall, the zombie walk was a huge success, and we think (and hope) that we taught the LBP students a lot more about the scary motives of the tobacco industry.

Thanks, Sam

Global Battle Against Tobacco

Where in the world is exposé, you ask? Well currently, we’re getting involved in an international initiative called G-BAT (Global Battle Against Tobacco) put forth by a young man in India. Basically, we’re making some 3x6’ banners, adding our logo and a call to action, and then collecting at least 100 signatures on each. The goal is to collect them from all over the world, sew them together, and create one giant banner 10Km long with over 10 million “signatures against tobacco.” The finished product will be presented at the World Conference on Tobacco or Health (WCTOH) in Mumbai, India in May 2009.

Welcome to the Blog!

Hey everyone and welcome to the blog section of the exposé website! This is where you can find the latest on exposé in schools and in the community, as well as the latest on the tobacco industry here in Canada and the world.

If you have something tobacco related that you want to share with everyone in the exposé community, send a short (less than 100 words) blurb of what’s going on to exposeblogs@gmail.com.