Mr. Speaker, I have a couple of technical points to make before I start. I advise the Chair that I will be splitting my time with my colleague from Kings—Hants who has not had a cigarette since the holiday season. He is setting a example for the House.
I would also like to thank the translation service and the interpreters. I find it very hard to stick to my prepared speech. I want to thank them for their understanding and for trying to follow me. I will try to speak more slowly. They do an absolutely remarkable job and I take this opportunity to congratulate and thank them for their understanding.
This being said, Bill C-26 is a tax bill, which hopefully will change things in the area of health. While I was looking at the bill I was thinking “Can a tax bill really save lives?” We certainly hope so, and this is the reason why we have been asking the government for a long time to put money back into health. The government should put more money into health.
If we are willing to levy an additional tax to put warnings on cigarette packages alerting young people to the dangers of tobacco, if it works, and we hope it will, we should take this opportunity to invest massively in transfer payments to the provinces so that they can deal with others issues.
Bill C-26 sets this amount at $4 per carton of cigarettes. I am a smoker, the only one in the Progressive Conservative caucus, and I am wondering why $4, why not $3, why not $10? Honestly, I do not know why. The government is proceeding cautiously, step by step. It claims smuggling is not an issue, yet it is still moving very timidly, according to anti-tobacco groups both in Quebec and the rest of Canada.
The parliamentary secretary said that $4 will give us this much money. It would have been interesting to know what the impact of a tax increase is on cigarettes sales. If people buy less, revenues will be lower. What are the mathematics? What is the government's objective in introducing Bill C-26 as it relates to the reduction of tobacco use, particularly among young people? We do not know.
Of course, it is not ethically correct to say that $4 are added to the price of a carton of cigarettes. However, we do not know what the government's plan in the fight against tobacco is. We know that a bill is coming from the other place.
People are applauding Bill S-15, except that there is a problem with parliamentary tradition. The problem is the fact that a tax is asked for by the other place. The House will examine that bill. I am not worried about that. If Bill S-15 is not acceptable to this House, in accordance with parliamentary tradition, the government, if it is serious, will introduce a bill the very next day, using the same arguments and the same information and will identify it with a C instead of an S. If the government is serious about its fight against tobacco, it must arrange to apply the principle behind the details in the bill.
This being said, $4 is one thing, but interestingly, the government is controlling something controllable in the fight against tobacco. We remember that, when there was a major increase in taxes, companies would sell their cigarettes to the United States and the cigarettes came back through somewhat illegal channels. We would buy Canadian tobacco, but it had made a short trip to the United States before coming back here. This bill corrects this situation.
We knew that one of the reasons why there was a black market was the fact that there was no tax on cigarettes coming out of the production plant. It took years to deal with that issue. We were aware of the problem and of the legislation, but it took six or seven years to make it into an efficient tool.
Now we are told that there is no problem anymore. We know that the black market is active again, albeit to a lesser degree than before, because it is harder now. However as we all know, if there is money to be made, criminals are usually quick to get involved.
As for the Canada—United States agreements, we do not know what measure was taken so that both sides would talk to each other. The case of duty free shops is interesting. People used to go to Old Orchard or elsewhere in the United States for a day or two, perhaps a week, and come back with cigarettes that cost a lot less. That situation is being corrected. This only makes sense.
Indeed, if tobacco products are taxed in Canada because they are deemed to be dangerous products, there is no reason to sell them for less to Canadians who buy them in duty free shops. We must be consistent. The Minister of Finance and his American counterpart deserve praise for having taken the necessary steps to deal with this issue.
We support Bill C-26, but the fact is that according to statistics, over 40,000 people die every year because of tobacco. If two people die from another cause, the government takes immediate action to ban that cause. However tobacco kills 40,000 people per year, and all it does is increase taxes and tell Canadians that it is a dangerous product. I find this a bit cynical.
I come from a town called Asbestos. What is being said around the world? “Asbestos kills. We are banning it”. If we apply the anti-tobacco logic, why not ban tobacco? Why not say that it is a dangerous product and that we are simply banning it. Why not? Because there is a certain degree of social acceptance.
We hope that the anti-tobacco program will be aimed not just at young people, but at all Canadians. Smoking must become unacceptable. I am a smoker and I must say that the bylaw recently passed by the new city of Ottawa, which will take effect August 1, promises to make life difficult.
They are talking about increasing the buffer zones, even outside. There will be buffer zones, as there are in hospitals, for instance. When one goes to the hospital, one may not smoke. There are even restricted areas at entrances. We do not have this situation in the parliamentary buildings; we have our famous smoking urns outside.
I recall being outside smoking a few years ago when the temperature was minus 35 Celsius. Neither cold, nor snow, nor sleet, nor rain will stop a smoker. We are like letter carriers, so we go outside to smoke, and the current Deputy Prime Minister went by and said: “My God”. It smelled terrible. Eventually the buffer zones will be enlarged.
That having been said, it is true that there are people who die because of tobacco. An additional $4 per carton will not solve everything. Bill S-15 will not solve everything. What is missing in this battle is a united front. The battle does not involve the federal, provincial and municipal levels. They do not talk to one another. This is nothing new on the part of the federal government, which acts on its own most of the time, but it ought to talk to its partners.
What other municipality would act like Ottawa? Does it have the support of the provincial and federal governments? We do not know. Within the information program, will the federal government spend money to encourage the provinces and municipalities to pass bylaws, as it has with the City of Ottawa? If there is a constitutional problem relating to a total ban on smoking, will the federal government be prepared to listen to the arguments?
There are logical measures being put forward and we applaud them, but taxation measures are not what is going to solve health problems.
I will close with the remark that, if it is a good thing to address youth smoking by adding more tax and to use those funds for awareness and education campaigns, it is surely also a good thing to reinvest in the entire health system the necessary funds to provide choices to people, not just Quebecers but all Canadians, so that they can live healthier lives.
We applaud Bill C-26 and await Bill S-15, these financial legislative measure introduced in this parliament, which make sense for the health of those we represent. The Conservative Party will be supporting them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and may I wish you good health.