Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House to inform hon. members my constituents are furious that the Prime Minister would ignore the pleadings of eight provincial premiers not to reduce taxes on cigarettes and would allow Canadian taxpayers to be held hostage.
The one-half billion dollars lost by this tax reduction could be better spent on health care, education and retraining for the unemployed.
Furthermore, Manitoba residents are totally outraged that the border crossings where smuggling is a problem will now be lit up 24 hours a day. This is sending a clear message to smugglers to avoid those border crossings.
I challenge the 12 Liberal MPs from Manitoba to publicly acknowledge in the House of Commons that they have offered no resistance to this government initiative that puts the health of Manitobans at risk.
Manitobans have made it abundantly clear to me they are prepared to take action to prevent this country from going up in smoke.