Industry Advocacy

In the wake of the Health Canada's new legislation, Imperial Tobacco is coming out swinging, calling plain packaging a “nanny state” approach that does little to change consumer behaviour.“We remain shocked that despite all of the evidence, the Government of Canada is moving ahead with bad public policy,” said Eric Gagnon, head of corporate and regulatory affairs at Imperial Tobacco Canada.  “The experience of other countries demonstrates that plain packaging does not change consumer behaviour and that it’s a proven way to fuel an already booming illegal tobacco market in Canada.”Imperial Tobacco points out 20 percent of the market remains controlled by illegal operators and criminal organizations selling products outside of any regulatory framework and untaxed (depriving Canadian governments of more than $2 billion in tax revenue every year).“The illegal tobacco problem in Canada is poised to get much worse now that it will be impossible to differentiate between a legal and illegal product.  Not only has the federal government had its head in the sand for long enough when it comes to illegal tobacco, they have facilitated the thriving illegal market by allowing illegal operators unfettered access to the Canadian market,” says Gagnon. “The RCMP have stated that there are 50 illegal factories operating in Canada and 175 criminal gangs involved in the illegal trafficking of tobacco, and the feds have done nothing about it.  They now need to step up and address the issue they created themselves.”Still, plain packing continues to gain traction around the globe.

Quebec is within its rights to legislate on vaping, but a provision banning demonstrations of vaping products inside shops or specialized clinics goes too far, a Quebec judge has ruled.

The Convenience Industry Council of Canada is unveiling its new website.

The federal government used a favourable court decision on its carbon tax Friday to put pressure on premiers who don't like it to stop fighting it.

Anti-smoking groups are urging the Quebec government to appeal a court ruling that invalidated certain sections of the province's tobacco legislation dealing with vaping, as health officials across the country grapple with an apparent spike in youth adopting the habit.

The Convenience Industry Council of Canada recently announced the appointment of Matthew Ellis as its VP, Government and Stakeholder Relations.Ellis is from Prince Edward Island and brings with him almost 20 years of experience as a senior advisor to elected officials at all levels of government.

Canadian cigarette packs will have to be plain drab brown with standardized layouts and lettering under new rules that start this fall, Health Canada says.Manufacturers will have to begin complying with labelling rules for packages and dimensions for cigarettes by Nov.

Forcing gas station operators to display Ontario government stickers on the federal carbon tax violates their rights and freedoms, the province's chamber of commerce said April 25, as it asked the Progressive Conservatives to reverse their decision.In a letter to the Energy Minister Greg Rickford, chamber president Rocco Rossi said the group's members are concerned about the "political nature'' of the decals, which were unveiled earlier this month as part of the Tory government's fight against the federal levy."Our members—including gas station operators—have expressed concerns regarding the political nature of the stickers, viewing them as a violation of their rights and freedoms," Rossi said.Ontario has introduced legislation that requires stickers—in English and French—to be put on gas pumps showing that the tax has added 4.4 cents a litre to the price of gasoline and that will rise to 11 cents per litre by 2022.The government said earlier this month the stickers will cost taxpayers approximately $5,000 to print 25,000 decals but that does not cover the cost to distribute them to the province's 3,200 gas stations.Gas station operators who don't display the government-mandated stickers could be subject to fines of up to $10,000 per day.Rossi called on the government to scrap the section in the legislation, which mandates the stickers.“This initiative is an example of unnecessary red tape: it is both a new administrative burden and an increased cost to business thanks to the punitive and outsized fines for non-compliance,” he said in the letter.Rickford defended the stickers, saying in a statement that the federal carbon tax will have a negative impact on every one in the province.“Ontario families have the right to know exactly what the Trudeau carbon tax costs them every time they fill up at the pump,” he said in a statement.