Open Letter to Nanaimo Council: Why Ban a Useful Tool?

 

Open Letter to Nanaimo Council: Why Ban a Useful Tool?

Continuous-flame butane torches have legitimate uses. Before restricting their sale, Nanaimo council should show why a ban is the right response to their misuse.

On October 5, council asked the mayor to request a province-wide ban on continuous-flame lighters. Council also requested a staff report examining ways to reduce harm, including possible regulation of retail sales through the Business Licence Bylaw. That decision did not itself enact a local sales ban.

Dear Mayor and Council,

Before Nanaimo moves toward restricting the sale of continuous-flame butane lighters and micro-torches, have you considered their legitimate benefits and the effect on residents who use them responsibly?

These tools have practical uses in soldering, cooking, jewellery making, crafts and repairs. The continuous-flame feature allows sustained heating without constantly squeezing a trigger. In capable hands, that is a useful function.

There is an understandable safety concern: a locked flame can keep burning after someone releases or drops the device. Fires and serious burns deserve attention.

But misuse by some people does not, by itself, establish that removing a useful product from the local market is the best response. How widespread is the problem, and what evidence supports the proposed remedy?

Before proceeding, please answer these questions:

• What is the scale of the local problem? How many documented Nanaimo fires, injuries and deaths have been attributed to these devices, and over what period?
• What caused those incidents? Were they linked specifically to the continuous-flame mechanism, or to unsafe handling of an open flame more generally?
• Do sales bans work? What evidence shows that restrictions elsewhere have reduced fires and injuries?
• Who has been consulted? Have retailers, tradespeople, cooks and other legitimate users been asked how a restriction would affect them?
• What alternatives have been examined? Could product safety requirements, education or restrictions in particularly hazardous settings reduce harm without a general sales ban?
• How would a local restriction be enforced? What would it cost, and how effective would it be when these products remain available online or outside Nanaimo?

The possibility of someone improvising a way to keep an ordinary lighter burning also raises a practical question: would a sales ban meaningfully address the dangerous behaviour, or mainly change which device is used?

That does not mean a restriction could have no benefit. It means council should establish the likely benefit rather than assume it.

Please ensure the requested staff report examines legitimate uses, alternatives, enforcement costs and measurable safety outcomes before council considers restricting sales.

A useful tool should not disappear from local shelves simply because it can be misused. Council should demonstrate why the proposed restriction is necessary, proportionate and likely to work.

I would appreciate a written response addressing these questions.

Sincerely,
Jim Taylor
Nanaimo resident
Voice of Nanaimo

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Sources: City of Nanaimo: October 5, 2026 Council Summary; Bernzomatic: Detail Torch features and attachments.