Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question. It brings up some good points.
There are two things. First, consumption globally is up. I do not know what statistics the hon. member is looking at but I would be more than happy to speak with him privately to see what he has. The figures I have show the exact opposite. Global consumption is up, particularly in youth. Youth consumption is up dramatically.
As I said before, in terms of youth smoking it is not plain packaging that is the important issue. Cost is the single most important determining factor in consumption in youth. It affects how much they smoke and it affects even how many of them are going to start to smoke.
Again, if it is cost we are looking at as the single most important determining factor, it is unthinkable, reprehensible, immoral and unjustifiable for the House to pass a bill that will lower tobacco costs to children and commit tens of thousands of
them to take up this habit which will ultimately result in a decline in their age, an increase in their mortality and morbidity.