Jump to full article: Guelph (Ont) Mercury (ca), 2009-02-19
Author: Benjamin Kemball is president and chief executive officer of Imperial Tobacco Canada.
Intro: Yet, shockingly billions of dollars in unpaid tobacco taxes are lost every year from the sale of illegal cigarettes. And it is only getting worse.
In 2008, the federal and provincial governments together lost approximately $2.4 billion in taxes and that number is growing as the sale of illegal cigarettes grows. The federal government's share was $1.1 billion. . . .
Is Canada truly in a position to turn its back on billions of dollars in uncollected tax revenues? In our view, the federal government needs to act. . . .
In a recent news release, the Canadian Coalition for Action on Tobacco urged the same thing. Regarding the federal government's losses, Garfield Mahood, the executive director of the Non-Smokers' Rights Association stated, "In this time of economic recession, a time when governments are desperate for revenue, it is critical that the government recover over a billion dollars in unpaid tobacco taxes."
It is a rare thing when the tobacco control community and the tobacco industry are on the same side of an issue. When it does happen, governments should take notice.
When it comes to the illegal tobacco trade in Canada, this is one of those times. This illegal trade is robbing Canadians of government revenue, undermining tobacco control initiatives, exposing children to cheap cigarettes and allowing organized crime to cash in all the way to the bank. . . .
We believe this trade must be stopped and we have offered our full resources to government to help in this fight. In doing so, we make a simple plea to governments and the public at large: in these times of economic crisis, if you do not like the messenger, at least listen to the message.
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