Thank you very much for the question.
Again, it is a very complex issue, and there are a number of factors that come into it. The reason I talked about contraband tobacco is it's very important to understand that there is a critical connection between the growth of contraband tobacco and the growth of organized crime, which then spills into what we're seeing in cities like Winnipeg. In fact, we do a lot of research with Ernst & Young, and we're about to release a report, which we will share with the committee, that will show that the rate of contraband tobacco in Manitoba is close to 50%. It's shocking, truly.
We need a combined collaborative approach between the federal and provincial governments to work together to solve some of these issues. You're absolutely right. This not only impacts.... We can all feel sorry for the store owners, and I certainly do, but I feel almost more sorry for those communities that are literally.... We're talking about the hollowing out of some communities. Whether it's the corner store, the local diner, the local coffee shop.... If all of those places shutter, it has a huge impact on those communities. The reason a corner store is so important is this. Think about the single mom who needs to get milk at night, and all of a sudden, that local store that she could walk to has closed. Now she has to get into her car and drive to the closest grocery store to buy milk for her kids' cereal the next morning. There is this kind of ripple effect. That is why we are raising this issue and raising the alarm bells, because we feel there is definitely a connection.
We really would like to see some action on the part of the federal government, working with the provinces.