Mr. Speaker, Bill C-32 has been introduced by the government to make some changes to the way we tax cigarettes.
Remember that what caused this bill to be tabled in the House was the smuggling problem we had along our border with the United States. I think back and say that a nation is not a nation if it cannot defend its borders and if it cannot enforce its laws.
It is from that beginning that we are debating a bill which is going to dramatically reduce the taxation of cigarettes and tobacco and will cause young people to start smoking. These young people in essence are going to put their lives on the line. They may die an early and difficult death in order for this government to defend its borders and enforce its laws. That is quite a tragedy we are putting on the shoulders of some of our young people.
We have watched while the federal government has frittered away its authority to protect its borders. In January and February the government took questions every day in this House from members regarding what it would do while millions of dollars worth of cigarettes were being smuggled across the border. Unfortunately the government members sat there, took the questions and basically did nothing.
The RCMP would not enforce the laws of the land. Smugglers, criminals, were able to cross over with impugnity bringing cigarettes illegally into this country. The irony and the insult is that the cigarettes being brought into Canada were being exported by this country. They would go through a security check, come back on a tax free basis and compete with cigarettes being sold in the stores. Yet the government did nothing whatsoever about it.
The whole problem arose because this country has a very high tax on cigarettes, which is great because we do not want to encourage people to smoke. We exported the cigarettes tax free and they went into the various native reserves along the border between Canada and the United States. They would come back into Canada on a tax free basis. An illegal distribution system developed over a period of years while the government sat by and did nothing to protect its borders. It did nothing to enforce
the laws and the criminal element raked billions of dollars away from the legitimate businesses of this country.
Who knows where that money is today, but we do know that some of it bought guns. Every night we would see on television boats and skidoos crossing the St. Lawrence River between the United States and Canada. We would hear the crackle of gunfire. Yet this government stood back and did nothing whatsoever to enforce its sovereignty and enforce the laws to ensure that this country protected its citizens from the illegal cigarettes being brought into Canada. The government was elected to uphold democracy in this society and it refused to do its job. Now we have another bill before us, Bill C-33. When I talk about the supremacy of its laws I was rather taken aback to read one particular clause in Bill C-33 regarding land claims agreements:
In the event of a conflict or inconsistency between a final agreement or transboundary agreement that is in effect and any federal or territorial law, including this Act, the agreement prevails to the extent of conflict or inconsistency.
This says that the government has given way and is no longer saying that the laws of this land will have supremacy over Bill C-33. Bill C-32 is another example where the government will not enforce the laws of this country.
The government introduced a law to reduce the duty on cigarettes. It raised the age from 16 to 18 and turned many thousands of young Canadians into criminals instantly. One day they were allowed to buy cigarettes perfectly legally and the following day they could no longer buy cigarettes. Once they were hooked and able to buy cigarettes the government changed the law and said: "That is going to be illegal. You can no longer buy cigarettes if you are under the age of 18".