We are making progress at reducing youth smoking but a lot of work remains to be done. Every month more teenagers begin smoking. It's not just cigarette smoking. It's also these flavoured products. There are also cigarillos, water-pipe tobacco smoking, and smokeless tobacco. I know that in P.E.I. a bill has just been introduced to ban flavoured tobacco. Six provinces have done that. You know, we would support a ban on all flavoured tobacco including menthol across Canada. We have a lot more work to do. There are still 37,000 Canadians dying each year because of smoking and 5.7 million Canadians who smoke. There's a whole range of measures that can be taken. Australia has plain packaging as do Great Britain and France. Ireland will have it next May. Funding to Health Canada for its efforts to reduce smoking among youth can be increased. There are cessation programs and enforcement. It's a comprehensive approach. We're making progress, but a lot more remains to be done.
On June 16th, 2015. See this statement in context.