Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
My name is Manuel Arango, and I'm the director of health policy at the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
The foundation has met with many members of this committee recently to discuss how we can improve the regulatory environment for charitable lotteries through the elimination of red tape, something that could save charities millions of dollars per year. This objective is also supported by many other organizations, including the Cancer Society, which of course is represented here today.
Today, I have the pleasure of discussing Bill C-10 with you.
First, some information about the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Our mission is to prevent disease, save lives, and promote recovery. We are a volunteer-based health charity, drawing upon the support of 140,000 volunteers across the country. We strive to improve the health of every Canadian family, every day.
Tobacco use is a key risk factor for heart disease and stroke, increasing the incidence of all major forms of heart disease and stroke. Of the premature deaths caused by smoking-related disease in Canada, heart disease and stroke accounted for almost one-third of these deaths, or almost 11,000 deaths. As such, for the foundation, it is crucial that as a society we do our utmost to reduce tobacco use.
Over the years, the foundation has worked with its partners to advance a variety of tobacco control measures across the country at the federal, provincial, and municipal levels. We support Bill C-10 because eliminating contraband tobacco, which is a source of cheap tobacco, is critical given the role that price plays in tobacco consumption. We believe that Bill C-10, within the framework of a comprehensive tobacco control strategy, will help to reduce smoking consumption in Canada, especially among our youth.
Let me be clear, in Canada today the principal cause of contraband tobacco smuggling is criminality and geographic hubs, not tobacco taxes. We know this because we do not have any significant tobacco contraband in those jurisdictions in Canada where tobacco taxes are high. ln fact, it is the jurisdictions with the lowest taxes—for example, Ontario and Quebec— where we see the highest rates of contraband, so clearly other factors are at play.
The reality is that tobacco taxes are the most effective tool we have to combat the harm caused by tobacco. A large proportion of the reduction in smoking consumption over recent years can be attributed to our tobacco tax policies. ln fact, reducing tobacco taxes would lead directly to increased smoking, death, and disease. Vulnerable populations such as our youth are especially sensitive to tobacco taxes. Preventing smoking among our youth—Canada's future—is important given that once a teenager begins smoking, they typically continue this consumption pattern for at least 20 years. For this reason, nipping the tobacco habit in the bud among youth is critical and tobacco taxes have an important role to play in this regard.
As I mentioned earlier, geographic hubs also play a role in contraband tobacco. An example of the impact of geographic factors is well illustrated through the case of the border post in Cornwall, where simply moving the border post from the middle of Cornwall Island to the foot of the bridge in Cornwall in 2009 made a dramatic difference in tobacco contraband smuggling rates.
Mr. Chair, a number of measures are needed to address tobacco contraband and tobacco consumption in Canada. Deterrence via increased penalties to stop tobacco contraband smuggling is very clearly one of these measures. For this reason the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada supports Bill C-10. This bill is clearly a means, within the context of a comprehensive tobacco control strategy, to combat tobacco contraband and tobacco consumption in Canada.
Thank you very much.