Yes, they should. It adds $37 to a carton of cigarettes. Canadians have pumped $138 Billion into government coffers since Louis St. Laurent levied the first tobacco tax in 1950.
And where has that gotten us? Censorship. Certain companies can’t advertise in certain places… or at all? Discrimination. Folks, stuck outside, 5 metres from everything, trying to lite up in the cold Canadian wind.
Is this the Canada we want to live in? Where habit is treated like a threat rather than a comfort? Where businesses are sued instead of embraced? Where hospitals are filled with the sick and needy… rather than the terminally happy?
In 1965, 60% of Canadians were loving life in Marlboro country, now only 25% enjoy that priviledge.
Carole James, thousands of British Columbians are counting on you to keep fighting against these repressive regimes. Not since “Colonel” Drew stood in the House against another giant taxgrab in 1950 has there been someone to fight against these grave injustices. Good Luck.
***THE PRECEDING POST WAS EXTREMELY SARCASTIC —- I DON”T EVEN SMOKE —- THE CARBON TAX IS THE FIRST STEP TO ENDING OUR ADDICTION TO OIL —- OPPOSING IT TO SCORE POLITICAL POINTS ONLY ENDANGERS MORE LIVES DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE AND RELIANCE ON INCREASINGLY PRECIOUS CRUDE OIL AND NATURAL GAS***
Cigarette smokers have it good. They can buy smokes legally. Pot smokers have to pay a premium under illegal circumstances. That is real injustice. As for tobacco, you seem to be fighting most of the western world, not just the NDP.
LOL I just want to make it clear that I’m being incredibly sarcastic…i’ve never smoked a day in my life