Information

November 28, 1996

"Notes for a Statement" by The Honourable David C. Dingwall Minister of Health

To announce a comprehensive tobacco control strategy

I am pleased to announce today the elements of a comprehensive strategy to protect the health of Canadians against the harmful effects of tobacco use.

Our priority in developing the strategy has been young people. They are the most tragic casualties of tobacco use and addiction. They are also the most vulnerable to tobacco promotion.

The need for action is clear. Seven million Canadians are currently victims of tobacco addiction. One in three young Canadians smoke, and half of them will ultimately die prematurely of a tobacco-related disease.

Tobacco use will cause the deaths of more than 40,000 Canadians this year -- three times the number who will die from car accidents, suicides, drug abuse, murder and AIDS combined.

The government's new tobacco control strategy I am announcing today is strong, balanced and reasonable. In developing our legislation, we have been guided by:

• The decision of the Supreme Court of Canada;
• The Blueprint for tobacco control;
• Follow-up consultations with medical and public health experts, community groups, non-government organizations, affected industries, arts and sports groups and individual Canadians; and
• Extensive research.

Our strategy will deal in a comprehensive way with the broad range of factors that, cumulatively, contribute to the decision to smoke.

I am pleased to announce that legislation will be introduced in the House of Commons early next week. Our goal has been to develop a comprehensive package that will do two things:

• First and foremost, it will protect the health of Canadians, especially youth;
• Second, it will reflect the guidance of the Supreme Court.

The tobacco control strategy deals with seven key elements.

• Access
• Advertising and promotion
• Packaging and labelling
• Product regulation
• Taxes
• Smuggling
• Enforcement and education

Let me now expand very briefly on each of these.

1. Access

The legislation will further limit access by young people to tobacco products: sales of cigarettes and tobacco products through vending machines, self-service displays and mail-order distribution will be prohibited. Photo identification will be required when confirmation of proof of age is requested.

2. Advertising and promotion

The legislation will restrict the promotion of tobacco products in the following ways:

• Advertising of tobacco products such as broadcast advertising, billboards, ads on street kiosks, bus panels and promotional displays at point of sale will be prohibited.
• Information about products and brands will be allowed in print ads in publications with primarily adult readership.
• We will strengthen restrictions on sales promotion by prohibiting the use of tobacco brand names or logos on non-tobacco products -- such as baseball caps or knapsacks --- that are youth oriented or have a lifestyle connotation.
• To reduce the link between tobacco products and the appealing, lifestyle images associated with sponsored events, the government will restrict the use of tobacco brand names and other brand elements in sponsorship promotions.

The format of these promotional materials will be regulated to restrict the display of tobacco brand names and brand elements to the bottom 10% of the display surface.

Sponsorship promotion materials containing tobacco brand names will be permitted in publications with primarily adult readership, in direct mailings and on the site of the sponsored event.

3. Packaging and labelling

The government will continue to ensure that Canadians are informed about the health hazards of smoking on tobacco packaging. Manufacturers will be required to include additional information about the toxic substances in tobacco products and their health impacts on tobacco packaging.

4. Product regulation

The legislation will give the government the authority to regulate the constituents of tobacco smoke and tobacco products, such as nicotine.

5. Taxes

Earlier today my colleague, the Minister of Finance, introduced a Motion of Ways and Means that will increase the federal excise tax on tobacco products and extend the surtax on the profits of tobacco manufacturers.

6. Smuggling

The Solicitor General and the Minister of National Revenue also announced that the anti-smuggling initiatives launched as part of the National Action Plan to Combat Smuggling in February 1994 will be continued. Together these measures are an important part of our approach to deter tobacco use by gradually increasing the price of cigarettes without causing a return to the serious smuggling problem that precipitated the 1994 tobacco tax reduction.

7. Enforcement and education

To enforce the legislation and to support health education programming, we will be allocating a total of $50 million over the next five years.

We will work with retailers to ensure compliance with the law on sales to minors. We will ensure that manufacturers, distributors and retailers of tobacco products comply with the provisions of the legislation.

Through the Youth Advisory Committee I established earlier this year, we will also continue our efforts to persuade kids that it's okay not to smoke -- a very different message than they are receiving now.

The Committee members will be working with us in the months ahead to help us ensure that kids get the message.

Clearly, the battle against tobacco use and its deadly effects must go beyond the federal government.

I am encouraged by the support I see throughout Canada. Provincial and Territorial governments as well as municipalities, such as Toronto and Vancouver, are taking strong action on smoking in public places. Employers -- like Safeway, Air Canada, McDonalds and Tim Hortons -- have enacted smoking restrictions in the workplace, often ahead of the law.

Non-governmental organizations and health care professionals are also helping to make Canadians recognize that tobacco use is the biggest public health problem we have.

Make no mistake: tobacco is about health, full stop. Health is our priority, especially protecting the health of our young people.

Thank you.