Tobacco company sees attempted $50 billion cash grab by Ontario as political stunt, unrelated to addressing alleged health concerns
Jump to full article: Canada Newswire (CNW) (ca), 2009-09-29
Author: IMPERIAL TOBACCO CANADA
Intro: Imperial Tobacco Canada is stunned that a province in which close to 50 per cent of tobacco products purchased are illegal is targeting the legal industry while continuing to turn a blind eye to illegal tobacco sales.
"We find it unbelievable that the Government of Ontario - a senior partner in the tobacco industry for more than 50 years - would use taxpayers' dollars to sue legal tobacco companies rather than invest in eliminating the contraband market which, today, accounts for almost 50 percent of the cigarettes purchased in Ontario," said Donald McCarty, Imperial Tobacco Canada's Vice President of Law.
Recent studies have shown that the huge increase in illegal cigarettes in Ontario seems to have ended the thirty year decline in smoking rates, and signal an increase in the amount of youth smoking illegal cigarettes.
"Why isn't the Ontario government going after the illegal manufacturers with the same zeal that it goes after the legal industry?" added Mr. McCarty.
Jump to full article »
Quotes from this article:
We find it unbelievable that the Government of Ontario - a senior partner in the tobacco industry for more than 50 years - would use taxpayers' dollars to sue legal tobacco companies rather than invest in eliminating the contraband market
Imperial Tobacco Canada, on Ontario's lawsuit.
|