By Senator Colin Kenny
In identifying the enemy in the great war again tobacco-induced diseases, I took my cue from Shakespeare's Othello. It was the Moor who said:
"Oh God, that men should put an enemy in their mouths to steal away their brains . . ."
Othello was talking about the excessive use of booze.
Let's update these words to describe an even stupider modern tragedy:
"Oh God, that children should put an enemy in their mouth to steal away their lungs . . ."
Othello's world wasn't cursed with cigarettes, but ours is. We now have a situation in which schools are running programs in an attempt to get 11-year-olds to kick the habit. The Parliamentary battle I am now waging is against one, monstrous enemy: the ugly phenomenon of young Canadians threatening their hearts and lungs at younger and younger ages.
California is waging a vigorous public campaign against youth smoking, and it is paying off in spades. Canada's youth smoking rate is 29% and climbing. California's had stabilized at about 11% until it plunged to 6.9% last year. It is unacceptable to me that more than four times as many young Canadians are playing stinking, nasty games with their lives as are young Californians.
It has become increasing popular within Canada's health community to target tobacco companies as the No. 1 enemy on this issue. I understand this. There is a mounting body of evidence to show that tobacco companies have been attempting to recruit underage smokers for decades. More power to those who prove successful at winning large settlements against tobacco companies in court.
But right now my most urgent aim is not to punish tobacco companies. It is to curb runaway youth smoking. I have a private member's bill before Parliament, S-20, the Tobacco Youth Prevention Act. It is a revamped, procedurally-sound version of S-13, a bill that was struck down by the Speaker of the Commons a year and a half ago on a procedural technicality.
By imposing a levy on the sale of cigarettes, the new bill would raise approximately $360 million a year to fight youth smoking at the grass-roots level, using whatever imaginative programs that the Canadian health community and young people themselves can devise to fight an epidemic that Canadian bureaucrats have proven they can't. The money would be administered by an independent institution at arm's length from government, so future governments won't lose their nerve or divert the funds to other uses.
My most powerful ally in this crusade is the Canadian public. A recent Angus Reid poll determined that 74% of Canadians want this bill passed. Those are the kinds of numbers that elected politicians have to respect.
But new supporters have come forward as well. In a surprise move, the Canadian tobacco companies, which fought the first draft of the bill tooth and nail, have agreed to press for passage of the bill. Am I suspicious of their motives? Frankly, I don't care about their motives. These companies have gone on record as saying that they are willing to fork out $360 million a year to wage a campaign against youth smoking, no strings attached. No tobacco company interference with a campaign that is bound to denigrate their product.
So the public is on side. The health community is on side. And now, unbelievably, the tobacco companies are on side..
There remains only possible barrier to getting started on a well-funded, independent campaign against youth smoking in this country: the Government of Canada. Ministers of that government avowed that they supported my last bill, S-13, in principle. But they blocked in the Commons because they maintained that it was procedurally unsound. Well this new bill is sound.
Health Minister Allan Rock is on record as promising to replace S-13 with a government initiative. S-20 is clearly his opportunity to get moving.
The government cannot argue that it would find it repugnant to take tobacco company money to fight smoking. After all, it already collects $2.4 billion in taxes from the industry every year. Another $360 million of tobacco money per year would used to fight youth smoking would mean the government wouldn't have to spend taxpayers' money on this cause, so it could use that tax money elsewhere.
With everyone else on side on this urgent issue, all eyes are now on Health Minister Allan Rock, Finance Minister Paul Martin, and Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. These are all honourable men. They will, I believe, do the right thing. Even the tobacco companies are.