Tobacco Eradication

Three tobacco control organizations oppose the proposed tobacco settlement

The following letter was sent to the Ministers of Health and Addiction by Action on Smoking & Health, Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada, and Coalition québécoise sur le contrôle du tabac:

REQUEST THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT VOTE AGAINST THE TOBACCO SETTLEMENT PLAN

Dear Minister Holland and Minister Saks:

We are writing today to request that you take action to ensure that the Government of Canada casts its vote against the proposed settlement plan between Imperial Tobacco and its creditors (“the Plan”).

A meeting to allow Imperial Tobacco’s creditors to vote on the Plan will be held on December 12th, 2024. Because Imperial Tobacco identifies a debt to the Government of Canada of $333,535,110, the Government of Canada will be entitled to cast one vote at that time.

We see no reasons why Canada should vote in support of this proposal and we identify many reasons that you should oppose it.

THE PLAN IS BAD FOR PUBLIC HEALTH

The Plan contains no measures to support the reduction of tobacco use or to improve public health. To the contrary, the Plan is designed to maintain revenues from tobacco sales in order to finance ongoing payments to provinces. It provides for the provinces to receive a percentage of the net revenues from tobacco sales (exclusive of excise and sales taxes) until $20 billion has been received, and forecasts that the companies’ revenues will be maintained at over $1 billion per year. Instead of helping to accelerate declines in commercial tobacco use, this Plan aims to perpetuate it for the foreseeable future.

The Plan does nothing to acknowledge, address or correct the harmful and wrongful actions of the tobacco industry. Quebec courts ruled that Canada’s three largest cigarette manufacturers acted illegally throughout the decades that were the subject of one of Canada’s longest civil tort trials. The companies were found guilty of failing to ensure that consumers were provided with information about the risks associated with their products, of misleading consumers by attacking the health information provided by others, of misleading consumers through their advertising and of violating the rights of Quebecers to life and personal security.

World No Tobacco Day 2014

Almost 5 months after the 50th Anniversary of the first U.S. Surgeon-General's Report on the Hazards of Smoking, Airspace Action on Smoking and Health -- the world's leading all volunteer anti-tobacco organization -- is marking the World Health Organization's 26th annual World No Tobacco Day (May 31, 2014) by once again renewing our call for the total eradication of the tobacco industry (yes, both the legal and illegal components) from the face of the planet.

Themes for WNTDs have covered a wide range of very worthwhile ideas and initiatives over the past 26 years, including:

• Public places and transport: better be tobacco free (1991);
• Tobacco free workplaces: safer and healthier (1992);
• Health services: our windows to a tobacco free world (1993);
• Sport and art without tobacco: play it tobacco free (1996);
• United for a tobacco free world (1997);
• Tobacco free sports (2002);
• Tobacco free film, tobacco free fashion (2003); and
• Tobacco free youth (2009)   [emphasis mine throughout].

Many other themes use the words "without tobacco", clearly implying tobacco free as well.

As wonderful as all of those objectives are -- tobacco free public places, transport, workplaces, sport, art, film, fashion, youth, etc. -- a tobacco free world is the 'umbrella' that covers all of those things and, clearly, much more.