Mr. Speaker, I had a question for the government House leader relating to the Minister of Health and Bill S-13, a bill that obviously originated in the Senate. We often call it Senator Kenny's bill.
It is an anti-smoking bill that would place a 50 cent levy on every carton of cigarettes. In a sense it appears as though the government will attempt to derail that bill. In other words, the government does not want that bill to come to the House of Commons.
I take exception to this because today in the House we were debating Bill C-42, amendments to the Tobacco Act. We were saying the bill does not have enough teeth in it. It does nothing. At the end of the day we will still have 40,000-plus Canadians dying each year from smoking. The point we are attempting to make is that Bill S-13 addresses some of the very problems we know exist with regard to the acceptance of smoking.
Bill S-13 does something about this. It would levy 50 cents per carton of cigarettes at the manufacturing level. The money would go into a foundation to educate Canadians, particularly young Canadians, on the dangers of smoking.
I mentioned that 40,000 Canadians die every year. Senator Kenny and many members on both sides of the House agree that it is a big problem, particular with our youth.
I have a very simple comparison but very graphic. If 100 people a day in Canada died as a result of an airplane crash, we would have slightly fewer than 40,000 Canadians dying a year. To be exact, 36,500 people. That would be absolutely unacceptable if the government did nothing about it but instead sat back and let it happen.
If a recurring problem such as an airliner going down every day in Canada killing 100 people occurred, the transport minister would have to resign within days. At the end of 365 days, there are 40,000 Canadians dying because of smoking. The government sits back and simply lets the tobacco giants control the agenda.
We want to see something done. We are saying that Bill C-13 would do something about that. Senator Kenny's bill does something about it. We are asking the government to give this bill some consideration, at least get this bill on the floor of the House of Commons so that it can be debated on its merits.
I am hoping the government will be receptive to this bill, consider it and debate it openly and honestly in the House of Commons where all members can express their points of view.