Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to explore further the government's strategy, if it has any, on dealing with smoking among young people. I have raised this matter on numerous occasions. My question on November 18 about Bill S-13 afforded me another opportunity to try to discover if the government had any kind of comprehensive strategy.
Are we dealing with words, rhetoric and old promises? Is there actually a serious plan in place to reduce smoking among young people and to deal with a very serious health problem that costs all of us an enormous amount of money and loss of health?
Bill S-13 offered the government a very constructive proposal, an opportunity to put a levy on the industry per carton in order to ensure money was available to be directed entirely into anti-smoking initiatives and into preventing young people from smoking in the first place.
At that time the government used procedural wrangling to argue that the bill should not be before the House. It succeeded. It also promised at that time that it would take the issue further and come back to the House with alternatives for putting in place something comparable to Bill S-13 which adhered to the principles of the proposal by Senator Kenny.
There has been nothing, not a word. There is no sign that a process is in place. We do not know if the Liberal caucus has even met on it as was promised and we are waiting anxiously to see what will happen. In the meantime there is a growing litany of broken promises on the part of the government. It keeps promising that money will be spent. It did so in the 1993 election and in the 1997 election. There was a promise for $100 million to be spent on prevention of smoking among young people.
To date, we still believe that about $200,000 has been spent. There is more rhetoric in the budget but no evidence of anything happening. We also know that on other fronts the government had opportunities to act and failed to do so.
As I mentioned before, with respect to tobacco taxes we know that American tobacco prices have skyrocketed as a result of the November 1998 settlement between the United States government and tobacco companies. Cigarettes now cost as much as $15 more in American states bordering Ontario and Quebec. This means that the smuggling threat the government always talks about, which caused the reduction in tobacco taxes, has been virtually eliminated.
The budget offered the government an opportunity to act. It failed to do so. The government also made a great fanfare about Bill C-42 and about how it was working on eliminating tobacco sponsorships. It was supposed to have included a grandfathering effect, with tobacco companies forbidden to initiate new sponsorships.
Lo and behold, just a few days ago, du Maurier put out a press release bragging about 234 arts groups receiving funding for the coming year and many of them being first time recipients. That is contrary to the spirit of Bill C-42.
Whether we are talking about taxation policy, whether we are talking about education programs or whether we are talking about restrictions on advertising, the government has failed to act. It has provided nothing but rhetoric and disjointed ad hoc suggestions without a comprehensive strategy.
What is desperately needed today for the future of our kids and for the sake of our health care system is a comprehensive, concrete plan of action.