Mr. Speaker, yes, it did take place. That is exactly the conversation I was having, and I was kind of reproached by the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages. The fact that they need more money is a reality.
If we want to address the issue, we have to do it right. One way would be to create an infraction in the Criminal Code. Another way would be to make sure that kids realize that it is not good to smoke.
A concern I have right now is that people say that there was a considerable drop in the number of tobacco users for a time, but that number is on the rise again. I am not sure whether others feel the same way, but when we look at American television right now, there is a lot of smoking on a lot of shows. Maybe it is silly to say so, but there was a time when we did not see smoking on television any more. It was not cool.
Fans of Mad Men may have noticed that practically every character on that show smokes at every turn. The show is set in another time. I watch Law and Order: SVU and other shows and we see people smoking. I guess as a former smoker myself I tend to notice these things. All of these things seem to make it okay again to smoke. In fact, young people are starting to smoke again.
Contraband cigarettes are cheap and easy to get. People have access to a product that we all know is dangerous. Indeed, something must be done about this.