Yes, I understand that.
We will take some pictures and have it translated and tabled for the committee, if that's helpful as we move forward.
Because this act does deal with advertising, I'll just hold up a couple of these. This is the Canadian edition of Time magazine, and you can see inside what is available in terms of advertising that has started again.
These are the new dailies that we're starting to see. These are available and distributed free, oftentimes at bus stops and other places like that. So it's not really clear, exactly, who is able to pick that up, but pretty much anybody.
There are examples of some of the large advertisements we're starting to see.
Again, it's very targeted and very strategic in terms of some of the things we thought you might like to see, in terms of some of the specific examples we're trying to address with Bill C-32.
For the sake of time, I will return to my presentation.
Following the Supreme Court of Canada ruling in late July 2007, the tobacco industry has been increasingly advertising tobacco products. Our research shows that over 86% of these have been appearing in free weekly publications, which I just showed you, which are easily accessible to youth. Also, evidence clearly indicates that the sales of flavoured little cigars have grown from 53 million units in 2001 to 403 million units in 2007, and that 25% of youth between the ages of 15 and 17 have tried smoking a little cigar. Our understanding is that this is the fastest growing product category right now.
These flavoured little cigars are relatively new to the Canadian market place. They are produced in flavours such as chocolate, grape and tropical punch. The tobacco industry's own documents show that they use flavouring to make them more appealing to young people.
Given what we know in terms of the resurgence in tobacco advertising, the ability of flavoured tobacco products and their alarming growth in the Canadian market, there is a need to act now to put an end to marketing practices that could induce youth to start smoking. As I mentioned earlier, prevention is a key element to a successful tobacco control strategy. Ultimately, as I said earlier, our objective is to prevent new people from starting to smoke if we're going to be successful in driving down further the number of Canadians who smoke.
In May of this year, Bill C-32, the cracking down on tobacco marketing aimed at youth act, was introduced by the Minister of Health to address these issues.
Very quickly, five key components of the legislation are the following.
The first one is banning all advertising in publications that may be seen or read by children and youth. Tobacco advertising will no longer be allowed in publications that have an adult readership of 85% or more. By definition, these publications could have 15% youth readership. This will prevent tobacco advertisements from appearing in newspapers, magazines, and free entertainment weeklies that could be viewed by children and youth.
The second one is banning flavours and additives in little cigars in blunt wraps. Under the Tobacco Act, there are currently no restrictions on the addition and marketing of flavours and additives to tobacco products. The bill will ban the addition of flavours, except menthol, and other additives such as vitamins, sugars, sweeteners, and colouring agents, from cigarettes to little cigars and blunt wraps.
The third one is banning the use of representations or pictures on the front of packaging of these products so that it cannot be implied that the flavour is in the product. For example, a picture of cherries on a package of little cigars, blunt wraps, or cigarettes will not be permitted.
The fourth one is ensuring that little cigars and blunts are sold in packages of 20 or more, because it will increase the price point, and price is a key factor in whether youth start to smoke or not. The Tobacco Act already requires that cigarettes be sold in a package containing at least 20 units, so this would bring this in line.
And the fifth one is creating a schedule so that the government can take faster action to ban other products or additives should they be found to encourage youth to start smoking.
The proposed legislation does exclude menthol from the flavour ban. This legislation is focused on the new and emerging fruit and candy flavours.
Research shows that nearly 8 of 10 young people who try smoking a whole cigarette before they turn 20 go on to become smokers at some point in their lifetime. The legislation before you today for discussion sets out a direction to ensure the continued protection of youth from inducements of these new tobacco products that are clearly targeted at them.
My officials and I will now be pleased to respond to any questions you may have on Bill C-32.
Thank you.