Justice committee  Thank you for your question, Mr. Jacob. Price is a key factor in the lure of tobacco products for youth. The fact that contraband cigarettes are on the market is a very strong incentive for youth. Contraband makes up 15% of the Quebec market. The focus shouldn't solely be on the contraband market; there is still a legal market, as Ms.

Justice committee  Bill C-10 is very important because it provides police forces with additional tools to do their job. I think it will have an impact on contraband. For example, as mentioned a number of times, contraband measures should include the control of inputs to prevent illicit manufacturers from getting supplies.

Justice committee  Yes.

Justice committee  To add specifically on contraband, we have been involved in this issue for many years. Education alone won't cut it. We've been advocating for serious or effective policy measures. We can't do that. It's up to governments to implement those policies and enforce them. The three of us have been involved for 15 years in trying to convince governments of some of the measures that they need to bring forward.

Justice committee  They're the same as legal tobacco products. They're not adding any kinds of chemicals or additives or anything of that sort. The problem is the combustion of a tobacco leaf. The tobacco leaf itself is poisonous. It contains natural nicotine. It contains nitrosamines, which is the most potent carcinogen that we have in tobacco.

Justice committee  There's another issue as well. Many people who are engaged in illicit drugs basically turn toward contraband tobacco because it is a far easier buck to make and the penalties are lower than for engaging in illicit drugs. The equation is quite easy for them. They switched, saying they could make a lot of money by selling contraband tobacco.

Justice committee  No. And for the other reserves, the other territories.... Politically, recalling the Oka crisis, it will be quite difficult to go on the reserves and shut down those manufacturing facilities. I'm from Chateauguay and I lived through what happened during that crisis. My mother had to sell her house and move out of Chateauguay because of what happened.

Justice committee  We obviously have contacts with different police officers and with the RCMP specifically, and one of the things I’ve learned—it was quite interesting—is that they’re frustrated. They are really frustrated because one of the things that's happening is they are catching many of the smugglers coming up, for example, from Akwesasne.

Justice committee  No. I hope it is the type of information....

Justice committee  You're talking about tobacco consumption altogether?

Justice committee  That's just in the case of Akwesasne, which could be potentially a problem, because Akwesasne is a source of contraband tobacco, but you have some in Kahnawake near Montreal, Tyendinaga, and Six Nations. So, for the Akwesasne situation we're considerably concerned about the issue of having the border post being moved into New York state.

Justice committee  I started working in tobacco control in 1993, right smack in the smuggling crisis. It wasn't all the provinces that rolled back their taxes. Quebec was the first and it had a domino effect—New Brunswick, Ontario, and a few other provinces in the Maritimes. The other provinces maintained their level of taxation.

Justice committee  It's probably people who are going on the reserves and coming back with truckloads of cigarettes. They're not being caught when they drive away from the reserves. Then they go into their neighbourhoods and distribute these products even to kids. I'm taking Quebec as an example.

Justice committee  This is conjecture on my part. One of the problems we're seeing, and what the RCMP is reporting, is that with the trafficking of tobacco, there is exchange sometimes for illegal drugs as well. So that might be a problem, where illegal drugs, as well, are going into the communities.

Justice committee  I can, but it is in French; I don't have an English version.