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Debates in the National Assembly 

So, according to article 12, the Minister of Health and Social Services proposes the adoption of the principle bill number 112, Law modifying the Law on tobacco and other legislative matters. So, I am ready to recognize the first speaker, the Minister of Health and Social Services. . . .

Everywhere in the industrialized world, this phenomenon is the subject of a profound awareness, again a social consensus, and everywhere in these societies or for the most part in these societies, people have adopted legislative and regulative measures in the direction of tobacco control and particularly concerning citizens’ exposure to environmental tobacco smoke.

We know that in Quebec, we are unfortunately still sadly the champions of Canada in the domain of tobacco addiction, but we have nevertheless improved the situation in a gradual manner in the past few years, and it should be noted that the first Law on tobacco, adopted unanimously by the National Assembly in 1998 had the effect of decreasing much more rapidly the toll of smoking [on Quebec]. . . .

We now know that exposure to secondhand smoke clearly increases the risk of lung cancer, and among higher risk individuals, heart disease. In less than 30 minutes, Mr. President, of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, changes in cardiac rhythm and changes in the circulatory system can be registered, which can eventually lead to very serious cardiac diseases including cardiac arrest. . . .

And of course this issue of smoke in the environment, environmental tobacco smoke, raises an ethical problem in societal life, since we can certainly say that the decision to smoke is perhaps—and we’ll return to this issue— a question of free choice on the part of the citizen, but we certainly cannot compare this decision with the possibility of exposing citizens or our neighbors to the noxious effects of environmental tobacco smoke. And this, again, is a rather fundamental ethical notion. . . .

What are our two objectives? On the one hand, to limit exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, and on the other, let us not forget, to diminish the toll of smoking first by helping more and more citizens—men and women—to quit tobacco, and secondly by diminishing the opportunities for youth—our adolescent boys and girls in particular—to begin smoking.

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