Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to all the presenters here today.
I'm especially happy to see the Canadian Cancer Society here, talking about some of the concerns we have around smoking. In our country, we still have large populations in different regions where there are a lot of smokers. Wherever there are a lot of smokers, there are high rates of lung cancer. In the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon, and all areas of the north, we still have a high number of smokers. I've raised the concern on the floor of the House of Commons about this issue and asked what can we do about it. We really have to get it under control. I've sat through presentations in my riding with people from health, with the charts on the wall. Smoking and lung cancer is double or triple what everything else is that is a cause of cancer.
It was interesting to hear that you are looking at the issue of raising the cost of cigarettes as a detriment to smoking. I'm not sure if I totally agree with that, so maybe you could explain it to me, because, as I said, I'm from the Northwest Territories where a carton of cigarettes is $161.20 today. I don't see anyone quitting smoking because of that. Maybe you could just tell me what information you have, what research shows that this works.