Mr. Speaker, on June 3, 1998 the health minister said publicly that he supports the principles of Bill S-13. He said it is a clever bill and it ties money from smoking to prevention programs.
This past Monday the minister refused to answer a question about his intentions with respect to a levy on cartons of cigarettes.
I ask the minister, and I hope that he does not evade the question today, does the minister still believe that a levy of 50 cents a carton for prevention purposes is a good thing or not?