Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
On behalf of the Coalition québécoise pour le contrôle du tabac, thank you for this opportunity to testify today.
My name is Rob Cunningham, and I am a lawyer and a senior policy analyst at the Canadian Cancer Society, which is a member of the coalition, together with other groups. Today we want to express our support for the clauses in this bill on tobacco, in order to better control tobacco smuggling.
Having higher prices and higher taxes are very effective ways to decrease tobacco use. All members of Parliament are aware of how we have a significant illegal contraband problem in Canada, and we need solutions.
We support the enhanced tax stamp regime that will be authorized with this bill as a component of an overall comprehensive strategy. It will assist in preventing counterfeiting. There was just recently a seizure in Vancouver of counterfeit products. It will assist with those licensed companies that produce more than they report to government, because each package will have a unique identifier on it, the way money does, with covert and overt features. It will also provide a base for a further step that some countries are doing. We've seen progress along these lines in Brazil, in Turkey, in California, and there have been discussions in other jurisdictions about having a better system of tracking and tracing to help identify a point of diversion. So illegal product is seized, and you can see through the unique identifier what the last point of legal control was before it was diverted illegally.
For other types of contraband such as illegal manufacturing--that's a different category--there are different remedies available. We have recommended to government remedies with respect to other types of contraband.
We urge all members of this committee to support these aspects of this bill. We hope that the government will move quickly with regulations that are effective, and that this component can enhance part of a broader comprehensive tobacco control strategy.
Why are the Canadian Cancer Society and the Coalition québécoise pour le contrôle du tabac concerned about this? We know that kids are getting this, especially in Ontario and Quebec, where the prices in terms of taxes are the lowest but the contraband is highest. It's not because of high taxes. It's because of illegal sources of supply, and we need to control the distribution chain.
Thank you very much. I look forward to any questions.