I have some discussion on the overall motion.
It would be premature for the committee to endorse this motion. We heard from the Minister of Health here in committee a couple of weeks ago and last week that the project overall has not been taken off the table; they are going through further analysis.
The minister also mentioned that the department does not consider that hard-hitting health warning messages on the dangers of tobacco should be a stand-alone initiative.
The social environment has changed significantly since health warning messages were introduced ten years ago. It's a good time to refocus our efforts to ensure that the warnings reach the largest number of smokers possible while remaining effective and cost-efficient.
Health Canada is examining innovative ways to complement existing strategies by strengthening its Internet presence and extending its presence using social media tools, such as Twitter, Facebook, etc., to reach more Canadians.
It's important to remember that there's no single solution to further reduce tobacco use in Canada. Canada has been successful in lowering the smoking rates because we have implemented a strong and comprehensive tobacco-controlled environment that includes multiple policy levers all working together--for example, second-hand smoke, bans on advertising, bans on high taxes, restrictions on marketing to youth, etc.
Given the information provided by the health minister, I cannot support this motion. It would be premature for the committee to report this motion to the House. I suggest that the committee allow the department time to continue its good work, which thus far has led to Canada having one of the lowest smoking rates in the world.