Mr. Speaker, it is ironic that the tobacco companies got everything they wanted from this government. It is not surprising, though, given who was doing the lobbying: Ryan Sparrow, communications manager for Philip Morris, a former senior spokesman for the Conservative campaign; Keith Beardsley, a lobbyist for JTI Macdonald Corporation and the Prime Minister's former deputy chief of staff; and Chad Rogers, a lobbyist for Benson & Hedges, who is known to have ties to the Conservative Party.
Clearly, it is more lucrative for these companies to fight smuggling than it is to fight smoking. However, is that a good policy in and of itself, or did the Conservatives simply give in to their friends in the tobacco lobby?