For Immediate Release
November 27, 2015
Queen’s Park – “The province of Ontario is now being viewed, essentially, as an illegal drug pusher, and it’s coming right out of just west of Toronto, in this part of southern Ontario,” Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Toby Barrett has told the Ontario Legislature.
As Barrett spoke in favour of his colleague Todd Smith’s Bill 139, the Smoke-Free Schools Act, he outlined the dramatic change, for the worse, in the tobacco industry in recent years.
“Just last month—this was mentioned—I was interviewed by a journalist with La Reforma. They came up from Mexico City to my little constituency office. A film crew came up from Mexico,” Barrett explained. “This spring, I was interviewed by a camera crew from Guatemala, and another crew came from Costa Rica doing a documentary on illegal tobacco.
“Why would they come up here? All the contraband tobacco that has arrived on their shores is grown in Ontario, manufactured in Ontario and shipped down in containers. Ontario’s tobacco industry—the illegal side of it—has become completely out of control.”
Barrett is calling on members of the Legislative Assembly to establish a time-limited Commission of Inquiry to hold hearings, pull together data with respect to trafficking of tobacco, other drugs, illegal weapons and humans. The tobacco country MPP feels Ontario can no longer ignore illegal trafficking and the issue is rapidly worsening with the involvement of organized crime.
“We can’t emphasize enough this issue of contraband tobacco. It’s certainly creating destruction across my part of Ontario,” Barrett reiterated in the Legislature. “It’s mostly domestic, but it has now become international. It’s not visible, essentially. We have very sophisticated operations moving leaf, moving processed leaf, moving cartons and cases across the country and out of the country and leaving behind illegal weapons and other drugs.”
Barrett reminded parliamentarians that he has been warning them of the proliferation of crime stemming from illegal tobacco for many years. In 2009 Barrett introduced the Tobacco Reduction Act to replicate the slashing of taxes that Bob Rae and Jean Chrétien accomplished in 1994 – action that shut down overnight hundreds of smoke shacks. Regrettably, Barrett’s bill did not receive support in the Legislature.
“This situation is not good. It has the potential danger to get much worse,” Barrett explained. “ We really haven’t been able to pull together a viable answer…I think it’s time that we bring in not only the experts but other people involved.”
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HANSARD
Mr. Toby Barrett: I certainly want to thank my colleague Todd Smith for developing Bill 139, the Smoke-Free Schools Act. I’m an MPP who represents most of the tobacco farmers in Canada, essentially—what’s left of them. We have very few farmers left now. They cannot compete with the illegal trade.
Tobacco growing, as many would know, goes back centuries in Canada. It was about 100 years ago that it really accelerated down in Brant, Norfolk, Oxford, Elgin, Middlesex, Essex county and beyond. Many European families came over after the wars, and they spent very long, hard days both planting and harvesting the crop, and trying to negotiate a price with the companies.
Things have changed dramatically just in recent years. I’ve been involved with tobacco, both agriculture—I spent 20 years at the Addiction Research Foundation and 20 years here. Dramatic changes just in the very recent years—changes for the worse. Just last month—this was mentioned—I was interviewed by a journalist with Reforma. They came up from Mexico City to my little constituency office. A film crew came up from Mexico. This spring, I was interviewed by a camera crew from Guatemala, and another crew came from Costa Rica doing a documentary on illegal tobacco.
Why would they come up here? All the contraband tobacco that has arrived on their shores is grown in Ontario, manufactured in Ontario and shipped down in containers. Ontario’s tobacco industry—the illegal side of it—has become completely out of control. For this reason, I support Bill 139. I support what have proven to be successful initiatives from the Quebec government that give local police jurisdiction to stop the sale of illegal tobacco products and allow municipalities to keep the proceeds that have been confiscated when arrests are made that lead to convictions.
I’ve always felt that both enforcement and intelligence gathering is very important. I always supported the lowering of tobacco taxes. We saw this in 1994. The NDP Premier at the time, Bob Rae, and Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chrétien lowered tobacco taxes dramatically. I was working for the Ontario Addiction Research Foundation, working on Six Nations. I watched hundreds of smoke shacks disappear overnight. Back then, the illegal trade was maybe 11% of the market. It’s considerably higher now. We’re looking at 40% or 50%. That approach could be very difficult to do today.
A number of years ago—I think it was in 2009—I did propose and we debated legislation, the tobacco reduction act, to again replicate that slashing of taxes that Bob Rae and Jean Chrétien accomplished. Regrettably, it did not receive the support in this Legislature.
We can’t emphasize enough this issue of contraband tobacco. It’s certainly creating destruction across my part of Ontario. It’s mostly domestic, but it has now become international. It’s not visible, essentially. We have very sophisticated operations moving leaf, moving processed leaf, moving cartons and cases across the country and out of the country and leaving behind illegal weapons and other drugs. Human trafficking is involved as well.
I predict things are going to get worse. The province of Ontario is now connected with organized crime in Mexico. This is the reason people have been coming to my constituency office. The province of Ontario is now being viewed, essentially, as an illegal drug pusher, and it’s coming right out of just west of Toronto, in this part of southern Ontario.
Speaker, this situation is not good. It has the potential danger to get much worse. We really haven’t been able to pull together a viable answer. One proposal that I will throw out to members present—and I may send out a letter to people, actually—is I think it’s time that we bring in not only the experts but other people involved.
I think it’s time that the Ontario government established a commission—time-limited, maybe six months or nine months; it doesn’t have to be an expensive inquiry. Hold hearings, do the research, bring in the papers, and let’s really find out. Let’s pull together the data, the knowledge, with respect to trafficking of not only tobacco but other drugs, the illegal weapons, human beings, and the connection all of this has now, in a very dramatic way, with organized crime in the province of Ontario.