On the issue of tobacco smuggling between provinces, perhaps I was not paying close enough attention. I had not recognized that question as being part of his series of questions that he asked. I apologize for that.
On the issue of tobacco smuggling between provinces, the member would know that it is the responsibility of the provincial government to ensure that the provincial taxes in the respective jurisdictions are adhered to. The difficulty there is that many provinces saw that the appropriate way to go was to co-operate with the federal government in an effort to reduce the smuggling. They did so. It is thanks to those provinces that we managed to get rid of the problem that we had.
I say to the House, let us not forget that it is estimated that80 per cent of the tobacco smuggling in Canada was coming into the country through my riding. One million dollars a day in illegal money in my riding alone, 1,000 cases smuggled a day at $1,000 a case. There was $1 million a day that went through the underworld.
I congratulate the government again for having put an end to that.