Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to speak to this bill. When I spoke earlier to this bill, I iterated that it was a terrible bill. The government had no start-up date at that time. This motion gives some teeth to the bill.
I commend the member from Winnipeg North Centre. She has done a lot of work on this bill and the members opposite, after what they have heard about this bill and after what they know about the tobacco industry and the statistics related to tobacco from a health point of view, should rally the troops there, backbenchers and all, and support the amendment moved by the hon. member for Winnipeg North Centre.
The question of addiction does not apply only to the users of tobacco. This government and previous governments have been addicted. How are they addicted? They want their hands on the huge amount of money they can take in from the product and they want to spend very little in educating our youth, a small percentage. Governments all over have become addicted. They are addicted to gambling. They are addicted to alcohol.
In my recent return home it was sad to note that the rehab centre in my constituency has been closed down. For what reason? Money. The region could not afford it.
Looking very closely at what the hon. member has done in putting forth this amendment, we know what the amendment is all about. The tobacco industry must advertise. Why does anyone advertise? Does General Motors advertise to support the advertising industry? Nonsense. It advertises to sell more cars. Why do tobacco companies advertise? To sell more of their products. To whom are they advertising now? What is their target area? Their target area is youth.
It is absolute nonsense that we would have to phase in the advertising over a period of five years when we do not know the start-up date. At that time we would be well into the next millennium and hundreds of thousands more teenagers would be addicted. Yet we find the government reluctant to give up the addiction it has to taxes. Of course another addiction which I mentioned earlier was the huge grants the government gets during election time from the tobacco companies.
I ask the question as it relates to this amendment, would members honestly not rise in this House to support the amendment by the member for Winnipeg North Centre? This is a good amendment. Thousands of young people would be saved from the advertising and hopefully from becoming addicted. Is it not worth it? That has to be worth more to Canadians from all parties than the money the government gets. It has to be worth more to the lives of our teenagers who become addicted. It is a question of putting something first. To have the legislation open ended as it originally was planned is simply not good enough. Out west where we do a lot of curling, at one time they went to the Brier. The big curling event was called the Brier. Who was the Brier? The MacDonald Tobacco Company. People were going to the Brier. Some still use that term. Then curling associations across Canada said “No, this is a healthy lifestyle. We are not going to have the tobacco industry involved”. Is curling going downhill? No. It is on its way up. Interest is going up. Did it take five years to phase in? Absolutely not.
If the government is really concerned about this country's youth, if it is really concerned about the number of people who die each year because of this addiction, government members will support this amendment, as I am sure every opposition member will. Government members should go back to their people and say that this is a good amendment. The opposition knows what it wants. The government should let its members have a free vote on this. If it is a free vote, the motion by the hon. member for Winnipeg North Centre will carry.