Mr. Speaker, I am here to speak on the point of order concerning Bill S-13, an act to incorporate and establish an industry levy to provide for the Canadian anti-smoking youth foundation, a bill that I personally support. I rise not to speak on the merits of the bill but to address the concerns raised on the point of order by the hon. member and also to compliment the hon. member for St. Paul's for her action on this as a member of parliament and as a physician.
This bill would not have come up if not for the failure of the government to deal with the issue of smoking in Canada, a failure of a government that in 1994 lowered the tax rate on cigarettes which has caused nearly a quarter of a million children to take up cigarette smoking. Bill S-13 attempts to deal with it. That the bill had to be brought in this way is unfortunate but it has been dealt with and brought in this way because of the government's failure to actually do very much on the issue of smoking in Canada.
I would like to speak on procedure and the way this is done is supported by a number of precedents, including Bill C-32, the Canada Shipping Act, and the Canada Petroleum Resource Act that show very clearly this is a levy and not a tax.
I encourage you, Mr. Speaker, in your position as an upholder of the House and as an upholder of the rules of the House, to look at that issue and see very clearly that the hon. member for St. Paul's is correct in her assessment and that the government House leader is not.