Industry estimates find as many as half the cigarettes sold in Ontario are illegal
Jump to full article: Toronto (Ont) Star (ca), 2009-11-15
Author: Robert Benzie Queen's Park Bureau Chief / Richard J. Brennan Ottawa Bureau
Intro: One in two cigarettes smoked in Ontario is illegal, robbing provincial and federal coffers of more than $2 billion a year and raising concerns about children gaining easy access to tobacco.
"There's absolutely no doubt that there's an incredible amount of revenue lost both in the province of Ontario and Quebec and to the federal government as well," provincial Community Safety Minister Rick Bartolucci said in an interview.
A study for the Canadian Tobacco Manufacturers' Council found that illegal cigarette purchases in Ontario have climbed to 48.6 per cent, followed by Quebec with 40.1 per cent. . . .
Originating on First Nations reserves, the contraband smokes are readily available in most towns and cities.
"People have to understand the severity of buying, of making ... and what damage it does do," said Bartolucci.
But how do we know? Enter the squad of "butt pickers."
In a separate investigation last month, the National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco collected by hand 19,770 cigarette butts near 110 high schools, and discovered 30 per cent were illegal.
The coalition, which was launched by the Canadian Convenience Stores Association, whose members lose an average of $115,000 in sales annually due to illegal cigarettes, analyzed 14,064 butts from 75 Quebec high schools and concluded 45 per cent were contraband.
Because each legal cigarette has a distinctive marking on the filter, investigators are able to pinpoint hot spots for untaxed and unregulated smokes.
Ontario and Quebec represent about 95 per cent of illegal tobacco sales in Canada, and about 33 per cent of cigarettes sold in Canada are contraband, according to the manufacturers' council study. . . .
The major source of that supply is the Akwesasne native reserve that straddles Ontario, Quebec and the State of New York. Ten cigarette manufacturing plants on the U.S. side pump out billions of cigarettes annually.
"We know that perhaps 95 per cent of the contraband in Canada originates in illegal operations located on four First Nations reserves, the most important of which by far is the U.S. side of Akwesasne near Cornwall, Ont. There is also Kahnawake near Montreal, Tyendinaga near Belleville, and Six Nations near Brantford," said Cunningham.
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