January 27, 2003

The voice of tobacco country will continue to be heard

As we plunge further into the new millennium, the efforts of the ‘anti’ crowd are intensifying – whether it be anti-tobacco, anti-meat, or anti-coal, their lobbying efforts attack significant foundations of our economy.  What would happen to our economy – our tobacco or beef farmers, or Nanticoke – if the anti’s were to dominate?

Tobacco supports 14,000 full - and part-time jobs in Norfolk, Brant, Elgin and Oxford, and $500 million in economic activity.  Any significant or sudden decline in our tobacco industry will have a tremendous impact on the economic viability of our counties.

We are all in this together – on the farm and in town.  Simcoe is now a bigger tobacco town than Tillsonburg, Ohsweken is a major player and – believe it or not – I hear Caledonia is becoming a player.  When a $500 million impact is at stake, a threat to tobacco is a threat to us all.

Our government understands the importance of tobacco. In the last two months Enterprise Minister Jim Flaherty and Rural Affairs Minister Brian Coburn have both come to our area to hear first hand the challenges to our tobacco-based economy. Of course, Agriculture Minister Helen Johns, Oxford MPP Ernie Hardeman and my other colleagues are onside.

Make no mistake; we will be forced to defend our industry on a number of different fronts in coming months - there are yet again some storm clouds on the horizon.  This comes as no surprise. 

Just as I fought to get the $20-million for growers to complete nitrosomine kiln conversions, and just as our tobacco growers chose to stand together in the face of direct contract buying, we will continue to stand united in the face of whatever challenges come our way.

There is no doubt that as tobacco taxes increased, the demand for legally grown tobacco in Ontario decreased.  But that decrease does not represent an equal drop in the number of people who smoke, as the anti-tobacco lobby would have us believe.  The simple truth of the matter is that when the taxes get tough, the smokers get going to find a “cheaper” product found in unregulated and foreign-grown tobacco.

As an MPP for tobacco country I will continue to tell our Ministers and fellow MPPs that increased tobacco taxes simply do not work – smuggling, theft, the use of unregulated tobacco, and now less than projected tax revenues are the prices paid whenever taxes are jacked up.

Hidden amongst all the numbers and anti-arguments is the fact that there is a cadre of people who will continue to smoke no matter what roadblocks are thrown up in front of them. It doesn’t make sense that we should allow smugglers to re-emerge and supply foreign-grown cheap “smokes” out of the trunk of their car, while our farmers – growing a legal product – are forced out of the picture due to the tax-inflated high prices of store-bought tobacco.

It’s better to have seven million Canadians smoking a legal “Canadian” product than smoking imported tobacco in which the constituents may be unknown.

Together we will continue to fight the misinformation and contradictions that threaten our right to legally produce and market tobacco – the lifeblood and economic generator of many of our local communities.

You have my commitment – the voice of tobacco country will continue to be heard.