Madam Speaker, one of the things the government recognized, based on the evidence we heard in our consultations and from the witnesses who came before committee, was that there was some potential in alternatives to smoking, such as vaping, to be less harmful. However, we also heard that there was not yet a great deal of evidence as to what the actual health effects might be of vaping. That is one reason we have taken a cautious approach by putting what we believe are appropriate restrictions on the marketing of vaping products to make sure that Canadian consumers have health information and that young people, in particular, are not introduced to or having access to these products or having them marketed to them. It is to protect them from making that choice.
We heard a real concern that vaping could renormalize tobacco. We have made incredible strides in Canadian society in de-normalizing the use of tobacco. I think our kids recognize, in increasing numbers, the health risks tobacco usage represents to them. We do not want to change that path. In effect, we want to build upon it and continue to move forward. Therefore, we will continue to be very cautious with the use of alternative methods of ingestion that may not yet have the proven health benefits that are often promoted by the manufacturers.