Bill hiking tobacco tax coming next week: Sorbara [Smuggler's Delighted!]

[ConcernedCanuk]

. . "The Ontario government will table legislation next week to raise tobacco taxes in a bid to discourage smoking, Finance Minister Greg Sorbara says.

Sorbara, who is a chain smoker, declined yesterday to say how high taxes would rise, but there is widespread speculation a carton of 200 cigarettes could increase by about $15, to $75."

/snip/

"We're looking at working in lockstep with Quebec. There's trade-offs here. We don't want to create a new smuggling industry and that will moderate our approach to this thing."

To that end, Premier Dalton McGuinty and Quebec Premier Jean Charest want to work together to ensure both provinces have similar tobacco prices to deter black-market operators.

"As we design our measures, we have to make the commitment but also avoid creating a new industry of smuggling," said Sorbara, noting Quebec has not yet announced its moves. "We're going to try and co-ordinate our measures, but we're not shooting for the same day and maybe not in the same week," he said.

/snip/



. . guess the US gov't ain't the only one's with short memories -

. . last time they did this in Canada,

the smugglers went nuts and people were buying cigarettes cheaper from the smugglers than BEFORE the tax hike

and the only way they could control the smugglers was to remove the tax -

here we go again !

( hmm da BFEE got Blackawks on our border now, eh ? oh dear - )