Mr. Speaker, the hon. member asked what the government's objective was behind the increase in the tax on cigarettes and how it would reduce the incidence of smoking. That is a very good question.
Unfortunately the last time we raised the tax we saw a lot of smuggling. Many Canadians got cigarettes through the back door so it was hard to correlate the increase in tax with the decreased incidence of smoking. However the government is quite confident that the new measures, along with the reduction of economic incentives to smuggle cigarettes across the border, should reduce or eliminate the incidence of contraband. Therefore, we will have a much better measure moving forward. However there is some good generic data that supports the notion that increasing the taxes reduces the consumption, other things being equal. If people can get the cigarettes through the back door that will not happen. I just wanted to make that comment. I thank the member for his contribution.