Watchdog group calls for five immediate changes to empower police and Boards of Health to curtail contraband tobacco
TORONTO, Nov. 24 /CNW/ - The National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco (NCACT) issued its first Ontario Report Card on the provincial government's response to the flood of illegal tobacco into Ontario and delivered a failing grade to the McGuinty government. MPP Peter Shurman, along with NCACT members the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and Canadian Convenience Stores Association spoke at Queen's Park today to deliver the critique.
The NCACT report card, which ranks the Ontario government across five categories, saw the government receive a number of failing marks and an overall grade of 'F' for its lack of meaningful action on containing Ontario's enormous black market in illegal cigarettes.
Category Grade
Public education F
Keeping cigarettes from youth A - Legal
F - Contraband
Resources for law enforcement F
Tax revenue collection F
Penalties and sentencing C
Overall Grade F
"There's really no way to explain the near complete absence of action by the McGuinty government on contraband cigarettes. With the exception of pointing fingers at Ottawa, the Ontario government has been closing its eyes to the problem. All the while kids, who shouldn't be smoking at all, continue to find easy access to cigarettes distributed by smugglers," said Peter Seemann, spokesperson for the Canadian Convenience Stores Association and NCACT member. "This is a serious problem for communities and it's a serious criminal problem for Ontario. At least 175 organized crime groups are using contraband smuggling to fund other criminal enterprises such as drug and weapons trafficking and the Ontario government seems to be pretending this is someone else's problem."
"The contraband cigarette problem in Ontario is a source of violent and organized crime and it deprives governments of the full taxes from the sale of a legal product," said Kevin Gaudet, Federal Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. "This is an incredible situation where the government is willingly allowing - at best - hundreds of millions of dollars that could be used to lower Ontario's deficit, flow to an enormous black market. It's simply unacceptable and speaks to this government's lack of fiscal responsibility."
"We know that between one-third and one-half of all cigarettes are consumed in Ontario are coming from the illegal tobacco market. That's killing the businesses of hard-working convenience store owners. And untested and unregulated, illegal cigarettes are ending up in the hands of our youth," said Peter Shurman, MPP. "The McGuinty Government has known about the seriousness of the contraband tobacco problem since 2008 when the Auditor took a close look it and told us Ontario was losing hundreds of millions of dollars to criminal thugs. This Government has taken no meaningful action to address this rampant criminal activity. And that's exactly what this is - it's not a tobacco problem - it's a law and order problem and the McGuinty Government has failed in its duty to keep Ontario safe."
The NCACT report card cites major areas where the Ontario government has failed to act on contraband including:
Failing to demonstrate a commitment to prevent kids from getting access to contraband cigarettes;
Allowing billions in tobacco tax dollars to be lost while organized crime groups profit at the government's expense;
Failing to work with the federal government to fully empower OPP officers to interdict contraband shipments on Ontario highways without authorization from the RCMP;
Failing to provide adequate criminal penalties to deter smugglers.
The NCACT is asking that Ontario take immediate action through legislative, regulatory and other means to enact five important measures:
Fully empower Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and municipal police officers to have the ability to search and seize contraband tobacco shipments. Currently OPP officers need authorization from the RCMP or Ministry of Revenue before they can act.
Allow municipal police forces to retain the proceeds from seized equipment, property and vehicles to fund local law enforcement.
Encourage Ontario's 36 Public Health Units and their governing Boards of Health to make education about contraband tobacco a priority.
Commit the Government of Ontario to a public education campaign, particularly one directed at youth, to warn them not only about smoking, but the illegality of contraband tobacco as well.
Stiffen penalties under the Tobacco Tax Act to include more serious criminal charges in addition to the fines that are currently levied for smuggling illegal tobacco.
More information about NCACT and electronic copies of the Ontario Government Report Card can be obtained at www.stopcontrabandtobacco.ca.