Residents in a Whitehorse seniors' complex fear eviction after the Yukon Housing Corp.'s (YHC's) new smoke-free rules recently took effect.

Barb Legault, 60, lives in an apartment in the seniors' residence at 600 College Dr. She has been smoking since she was 15 years old, and now goes through about a pack a day.

For Legault, it's not a question of smoking inside or outside. It's a question of kicking the habit or potential eviction.

She has multiple sclerosis, is in a wheelchair, and only goes outside once a month in the winter for grocery shopping.

"I can't go out in winter; every time I do, it feels like my bones are growing right out of my skin,” she told the Star this week while at her kitchen table. "It's extremely painful.”

Legault was joined by three other residents who also fear eviction.

The new rule, which came into effect Jan. 1, bans residents from smoking inside their units, but allows them to light up on their porches/patios or five metres from any shared entrances.

The YHC made the announcement last May, asking all tenants in their social housing units to sign a contract promising they wouldn't smoke cigarettes, cigars or anything that "generates smoke” inside.

Legault does not want to quit smoking.

"It's the only thing I do. I have my puzzles and I have my cigarettes.”

The smoke-free issue seems to have divided residents at 600 College Dr. into two camps: those in support of the new rule and those who think it's bogus.

Legault said she's not about to go outside in her wheelchair in the middle of the night. She will sit up and smoke in bed.

"In the wintertime? At minus 40? I'm not going out. I can't.”

She doesn't think quitting is even an option. She tried to use a low-dose nicotine patch, she said, but it paralyzed her for 24 hours.

Lynne Martin is 73 and has been smoking for 58 years. She tried quitting with Champix, but it resulted in kidney failure.

Second-hand smoke and other health issues around cigarette smoking don't seem to bother this group of women.

"I'm living with a smoker, 24/7,” said Melva Smith, a 68-year-old resident who quit smoking years ago. Her husband hasn't.

"There's nobody in this building getting more second-hand smoke than I'm getting. I've got no side effects. He's smoking all day long and I'm still kicking.”

All four women said they would not have moved into the building five years ago if they'd known the YHC would impose the new smoke-free rule.

"You can't ask us now to change something in our life,” said Legault. "We're too set.”

Martin agrees that younger people shouldn't be around second-hand smoke, and never smokes when her grandson is visiting.

She has been on edge since the new rules took effect.

"When I light up my cigarette, now I look outside to see if there are certain cars out there,” she said, explaining that she knows there are a few, select residents who will complain to the YHC.

The women think a fair compromise is to enforce the smoke-free rule on residents who move into the building from this point onwards.

When the YHC first announced the rule eight months ago, the corporation's director of housing operations, Shona Mostyn, told the Star the decision was made due to the enhanced risk of fire, higher maintenance costs and the known health effects of exposure to second-hand smoke.

She said the YHC was not exactly "on the cutting edge” with its new initiative, noting many building owners and landlords in Whitehorse already maintain smoke-free residences.

Mostyn emphasized the YHC doesn't intend to discriminate against residents based on personal habits and won't "police” residents. Rather, officials will view smoking as a violation of the lease and will respond to complaints.

Offending residents will receive two warning letters and then a letter notifying them their lease has been terminated.

YHC spokesperson Nathalie Ouellet said this week the corporation didn't study the new smoke-free rule with separate groups of the population in mind, which is why they apply to all of the YHC's social housing units. There are 206 seniors units throughout the territory.

Ouellet said there will be no special considerations for people who have trouble getting outside. All YHC social housing units are independent living, meaning residents are mobile, whether they're in a wheelchair or not, Ouellet continued.

"If a tenant is having difficulty, we can help them with that, whether that means putting in a ramp or something else.”

Dr. Brendan Hanley, the Yukon's medical officer of health, was not available for comment this week.

In May 2011, he told the Star the planned new rule recognizes that one of the primary concerns of smoking indoors is exposing neighbours to second-hand smoke. He said it can be dispersed throughout the building via the ventilation system.

"I think this is a great way to support people in quitting smoking,” Hanley said. The Yukon's smoking rate is considerably higher than the national average, he noted.

Concerns about people being forced outside during the winter don't bother Hanley.

"People know what to do up here,” he said.

Nora Merkel, another resident at 600 College Dr., is all for the new rule. She said she knows a lot of residents who are extremely bothered by the smoke in the building.

"The smell in some places is really bad,” she said.

"I think it's a fantastic idea, and I do realize it's a problem for some people. I feel sorry for the people who are addicted.”

Merkel said she was a smoker for most of her life but has managed to quit without much fuss.

"I think for their own health they should quit. Shouldn't they at least try?”

That's not something Legault is going to do. She will keep smoking and keep spraying Febreze everytime she opens her front door.

She is confident residents will send letters of complaints to the YHC, adding she will deal with the threat of eviction once it comes.

"You know what I'm going to do? Put a tent up in tent city!” Legault joked.

"Where else am I going to go?”