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February 2005
TOBACCO NEWS FROM CANADA Comments by Warren Klass President, FORCES - Canada Dateline - Montreal, Quebec
At least the Quebec Liberals are dispensing with the nonsense and blood-libels of second-hand smoke as justification for imposing smoking bans. The justification is more Maoist:” The denormalization of smoking is a type of cultural revolution.” I wonder what kind of Academia Nut came up with that one. To Be magazine wrote a response that is not exactly out of Will and Grace:” Cultural revolutions often have unintended consequences and how a smoking ban will impact gay business is not listed as a concern in the consultation document. Sexual minorities are more likely to smoke than heterosexuals, a fact established by a myriad of studies which examine gay and lesbian health.” A far more grounded comment came from Andre Audet, manager of Aigle Noir (Black Eagle? Mes excuse.mon francaise est petit pue and tres terrible). Monsieur Audet told To Be:” Its no problem in the south, places like California where its warm. Its nonsense to tell people to go out and smoke in Quebec’s harsh winter.” Also from Quebec, the Montreal Mirror carried a story that the Association des marchands depanneurs du Quebec (AMDEQ. I’m assuming an association of convenience stores) warns that many of the 980 depanneurs will go out of business if the Quebec Liberal government clamps down on the sale of tobacco. The association claims between 20-30% of their profits come from tobacco sales. The Mirror quotes drug store giant Jean Coutu as having lost $30 million annually when the Quebec government banned tobacco sales from pharmacies. Finally from Quebec, The Grope and Flail and Canadian Press reported that a coalition of Quebec anti-smoking PARASITES are urging the Quebec Liberal government to ban cigarette advertising (billboards) and counter top displays. Dateline - Toronto, Ontario
The always fair and balanced Red Star prefaced its editorial with this comment about smoking:
Therefore according to the Red Star, marijuana should not only be de-criminalized but also legalized. Not only legalized mind you, but there should be (I’m not making this up) a “Cannabis Control Board of Ontario”. If there is one thing Ontario needs its more bureaucracy. I am supposing this Cannabis Control Board (I am supposing members will be encouraged to grow pony tails, dig out their tie dye t-shirts and bring along their Pink Floyd and Grateful Dead records) will be modeled on the highly successful Ontario Liquor Control Board and the Ontario Tobacco Marketing Board. Both are jokes, and the patronage dumping grounds for political hacks. I suppose with all the tobacco farmers going out of business in Ontario they could switch to growing marijuana, although competition from B.C. growers might be a problem. The Red Star editorializes:” Most arguments against cannabis legislation are moralistic, wheras the arguments in favor are pragmatic and would help protect minors, users and society.” Lets put aside the moral argument and concentrate on the Health issue-the Bitch/Goddess we secular Canadians are supposed to worship. Is marijuana less harmful than tobacco? No. Its far more dangerous, and at the risk of being uncool its time someone told the kids of Canada the truth-marijuana is much more dangerous than tobacco and even alcohol. B.C.Bud, which is never hooted with a filter in a joint or a bong contains up to 90% more tar and carcinogens than a cigarette. Smoking 1-2 joints of B.C.Bud are the equivalent of a pack of cigarettes. I have three words for the argument that pot does not contain nicotine and thus is not addictive. Two of them are: Big Deal.B.C.Bud is plenty psychologically addictive-especially to kids. A kid who is stoned on B.C.Bud cannot do high school science or math. A kid that stoned cannot construct an essay that incorporates reason and logic. B.C. Bud is great if you want to watch The Matrix or listen to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon on your windows media player-but its impossible to do school work when you’re that stoned. Unlike alcohol, which is pissed out of your system quickly, high-end pot stays in your system for months. Even though I am not opposed to the decriminalization or legalization of marijuana, I am under no illusion that is a harmless drug-especially for kids. Far more dangerous than hooting B.C.Bud is legions of pain in the ass Health PARASITES telling everyone how to live, whether it is anti-smoking nuts or the Temperance Union. Also from Toronto, Bloomberg News reported that Ontario Superior Court Judge has granted JTI-Macdonald (RJR) a four-month extension to defend itself from legalized shakedowns from the Federal and Quebec Liberal governments. Dateline - Oshweken, Ontario
This is one lawsuit I like. Dateline - Winnipeg, Manitoba “The cigarettes that
you light, one after another. Frank Sinatra, Learning the Blues (a song apparently about Ava Gardner, the former Mrs. Frank Sinatra)
There is a reason actors do or do not smoke in a movie. In real life both Ava Gardner and Ingrid Bergman were chain smokers. Yet Ava Gardner in the famous scene in the Barefoot Contessa (1954) pointedly refused to smoke, even though virtually every character did, and Ingrid Bergman never smoked in Casablanca (1943). Both movies were made long before this nuttiness got going. Ingrid Bergman always claimed that Ilsa never smoked in Casablanca because she was “a good girl.” But in Casablanca she cheated on her husband with Humphrey Bogart (“We’ll always have Paris”). According to this logic one can be “a good girl” if she cheated on her husband as long as she didn’t smoke. Ava Gardner pointedly refused Humphrey Bogart’s offer of a cigarette in the famous scene in The Barefoot Contessa. I was never exactly sure why. Miss Garner mumbled something to the effect that not all-beautiful women smoke. But Miss Gardner’s role was hardly that of “a good girl”. Ava Gardner’s character was that of a bad girl who cheated on her husband. The Barefoot Contessa was apparently loosely based on Howard Hughes and Rita Hayworth. The Howard Hughes character was a heavy smoker in the Barefoot Contessa, but in real life Hughes surrounded himself with non-smoking Mormons. Rita Hayworth was a heavy smoker. So much for art imitating life. So neither Ingrid Bergman nor Ava Gardner smoked in their most famous roles. But both cheated on their husbands, drank and gambled. This was the era before drugs. Impressionable kids in the 1940s and 50s saw the world’s two most beautiful women in movies committing adultery, drinking and gambling-and somehow they survived. The Winnipeg Sun published two letters on this topic. One from a guy who sarcastically wondered why these kids are not keeping track of characters drinking in movies. Another was from a woman who claimed her 17-year-old daughter goes to see the movie not if someone smokes. Also from Loserpeg, Manitoba’s NDP government is joining B.C in a lawsuit. in an attempted shakedown of the tobacco companies “for the costs of treating sick smokers.” Virtually ever news outlet in Canada carried this story. Reuters transmitted it around the world. Of all the laws passed by B.C. this is the most ridiculous. The B.C. Law allows the government to present its arguments as facts that cannot be disputed. The truth is whatever they say it is. Once again here are a sample of the real facts:
Although these are U.S. figures the principle is axiomatic, and 1989 was well before huge tax increases were imposed in the U.S. and Canada. And this is but a tiny sample of voluminous evidence from unimpeachable sources on this topic. The other research reached identical conclusions to what was quoted. No wonder the tobacco companies labeled these antics as “hypocrisy. ”Various levels of Canadian governments annually collect $9 Billion in tobacco taxes. Dateline - Regina, Saskatchewan
The Leader-Post also reported that Saskatchewan NDP Premier Lorne Calvert admitted the smoking ban was having a negative impact on race relations because Indian lands are exempt. Dateline - Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta
Dateline - Kamloops, B.C.
In a follow-up, Seattlepi.com is reporting that the towns affected have rallied around Mike Barrie. Both the towns of Barrier (Population 2,800) and McLure (Population 285) have rallied around Mr. Barrie who faces charges that could lead to 3 years in jail and a million dollar fine. Jill Hayward the editor of the Barrier Star-Journal was quoted as saying:” Pretty much the whole town is behind him. One second of error has destroyed his whole life.” Dateline - Whitehorse, Yukon
Jonas Smith, the Yukon director of the B.C.and Yukon Hotel Association and manager of the Capital Hotel was quoted as being prepared to fight any ticket in court. The 98 Hotel in the Yukon experienced a 40% loss of business since the smoking ban was imposed. Before I get caught up with tobacco news from across Canada, I have a sad announcement to make. Jan Hogg has passed away. Jan was a very articulate advocate for smokers’ rights. Her letters were often published in venues like the Toronto Star. When I was a guest on an open-line Toronto radio station, Jan was a caller who got on the air. I can’t begin to describe her brilliance and articulate comments. Jan would often correspond with me. I would like to offer her husband Bill and her family my deepest condolences on their great loss. Her presence and input will be greatly missed. Dateline - Fredricton, New Brunswick
Dateline - Montreal, Quebec “What are the reasons they are substituting lawyers for laboratory rats in experiments?
Ronald Reagan
A few months ago, Forces Canada reported that an Ontario Judge threw out a similar attempted shakedown by the PARASITES, citing no common interest. Even U.S. courts have thrown out these junk lawsuits. Quebec Superior Court Judge Pierre Jasmin encapsulates everything wrong with the Liberal Party using the bench as a patronage dumping ground for social engineers. The law be damned. Judge Jasmin has an agenda. Here is the rationale for his ruling, that because of a quirk in Quebec law cannot be appealed:
Never mind for a moment that these claims are tautological (an assertion with no substantiating evidence) and the diseases cited are multi-casual-the whole argument smacks of 19th century Russian nihilism, where utilitarianism became something to worship. One of the slogans of 19th century Russian nihilism was a shoemaker is more useful than Shakespeare because a shoemaker creates something useful. The big winners in this shakedown will of course be Canada’s legions of ambulance chasers. Imperial Tobacco’s head of public affairs, Yves Thomas Dorval told CBC: ”The real winners in this class action will be the legions of lawyers who will be employed for years to come.” No kidding. Dateline - St. Thomas, Ontario
As to be expected, this has not gone unnoticed by the anti-smoking nuts. The usual hysterics have filled the local media. The expected whining and bitching made its way to London, Ontario. St. Thomas resident, Jim Taylor wrote a column for the London Free Press entitled, ”Pro-smokers use same tired old arguments.”
Uh huh. Like which one(s) were never specified exactly by Mr. Taylor. This of course pre-supposes we have been allowed to make an argument in the Canadian media. The reality is the anti-smoking PARASITES are allowed to tell any lie, make any unsubstantiated allegation, and we are never allowed to respond to set the record straight. To say that those opposing smoking bans engage in deceitful claims is just a sickening joke. Dateline - Niagara Falls, Ontario
Mr. Biamonte told the Standard:” We’ve been here 50 years. Is this going to be our last year? Dateline - Kitchener, Ontario
Dateline - Toronto, Ontario
The Fair Air Association of Canada (FAAC) put out a press release announcing their own commissioned poll that claims that 70% of Ontarians believe that hospitality owners who invested in ventilation solutions, such as DSRs should be allowed to keep them. Not one Ontario paper has as yet considered this newsworthy. There are a couple of other stories from the Big Lemon to report. The Grope and Flail reported that Famous Players Theatres across Canada would no longer be running those nauseating anti-smoking ads before the movie. A bunch of smokers wrote letters of protest. Both the Grope and Flail and the Toronto Sun are reporting on a silver lining from the NHL strike. The fund rising for the PARASITES at the Canadian Cancer Society, with NHL tie ins is way down. Rather than seeking a cure for cancer, the Cancer Society is one of the most obnoxious anti-smoking groups dedicated to tormenting us. Other good news from the NHL strike-revenues at CBC is expected to take a $300 million hit. I suspect the Liberal Party will throw tons of money at both the Cancer Society and its propaganda mouthpiece the CBC. Dateline - Sudbury, Ontario
One of the charming propaganda slogans of the PARASITES is: ”Enrichis ta vie et ton portefeuille.” (enrich your life and your wallet). In any language this is complement puebel (complete garbage). Dateline - Winnipeg, Manitoba
Dateline - Weyburn, Saskatchewan
Some of the signs read:” Butt out of our business”,” Discrimination reigns in Saskatchewan”. The cleverest was a makeshift coffin carried by four people with a sign that read:” The year the hotels died 2005.” The Regina Leader-Post emphasized that it was not just local yokels from Weyburn who came out to protest. Protestors came from all over Saskatchewan. Restaurant owner Scott Kreinke made a 6 and ½ hour drive from La Ronge to attend. CBC reported that the noise was so loud it distracted the Judge. The demonstrators were there to support Bob Joyal the Weyburn bar owner charged with allowing smoking.Mr.Joyal pleaded not guilty to all (count ‘em) Eight charges. Dateline - Victoria, B.C.
The very same B.C. government has shoot –up rooms and free heroin for junkies, and turns a blind eye to endless head shops that allow hooting on its premises. Dateline - Whitehorse, Yukon
CBC reports that the Yukon was given the lowest rating by these PARASITES.Why? Yukon has the highest tobacco taxes in Canada. Whitehorse has a smoking ban. What are the PARASITES bitching about now? Yukon gets low marks for public smoking areas, allowing display ads, and allowing pharmacy sales of tobacco. $500 million a year buys us the antics of these PARASITES in Canada. Dateline - St. Thomas, Ontario
Not everyone was happy with this uncharacteristic outburst of common sense in Ontario. As to be expected the anti-smoking PARASITES engaged in their usual whining and bitching. Dateline - Ottawa, Ontario “The perfect is the enemy of the good.” Henry Kissinger.
There may not be any such thing as yet as a “safe cigarette” (a legal but not necessarily a scientific truism) but there is no question that Light and Mild are safer because they contain less tar -12 mg vs.48 mg for unfiltered cigarettes. The first law of Toxicology is:” The dosage makes the poison.” Two separate doctors informed me on two separate occasions that if I did not want to quit smoking that I should switch to a Light and Mild cigarette. I’m sure that I was not the only one to be given this common sense advice, although I continue to smoke regular cigarettes for the taste. In the mid 1970s the Liberal government mandated Light and Mild cigarettes for this very reason. The problem is that this obvious truth conflicts with the misleading “If you smoke you die” mantra of the anti-smoking PARASITES.” Harm reduction” is a heretical notion in their religion. Cynthia “The Mallard” Callard, the executive director Quackette of Physicians For a Smoker Free Canada told the Grope and Flail: “They (tobacco companies) really established the case that the labels were misleading and that labels were making smokers feel that the cigarettes were safer.” Dateline - Toronto, Ontario
In the Sunday Red Star was the question: is it ethical for a health organization to accept a charitable donation from a tobacco company? Not surprisingly the Red Star’s ethical advisor (no doubt the greatest ethical advisor since Aristotle and Kant) emphatically said no. I don’t claim to be an expert in the question but ethics are not the same as sanctimony. The Red Star’s ethics advisor said it was ok for the tobacco companies to put the money in a brown paper bag and throw it through a window-then it would be acceptable. But if the very same tobacco company like virtually every corporation asked for a tax receipt then the money would be tainted. I’m assuming that if the tobacco companies paid taxes on that money and the government turned around and gave it to the charities this would act as a cleansing agent. Oh, please. Although accepting money from other companies involves ”grey areas” tobacco companies are uniquely evil according to the Red Star because tobacco “kills 45,000 Canadians every year” blah, blah, blah. Putting aside for a moment this is a statistical concoction (the average age of these”45,000 premature smoking related deaths is 77-78 vs.79 for 7th Day Adventists) what about the other ”grey area” companies? How many people die from alcohol? Pharmaceuticals? Weapons makers? Car companies? Oil companies? Coal companies? Etc. etc. To single out tobacco companies as uniquely evil is just plain stupid. It’s hard to believe anyone could have passed a first year philosophy course with an answer like that. Dateline - Weyburn, Saskatchewan
CBC reports that the very same bar has now been threatened with loss of its liquor license and VLT revenues unless smoking is banned. Bob Joyal of the Royal Hotel is reluctantly complying. Lloydminster, Saskatchewan/Alberta
The conservative party MLA in the Alberta legislature from Lloydminster, Lloyd Snelgrove, made the following cogent comment about this to the Lloydminster Meridian Booster:
Dateline - Nanton, Alberta
Dateline - Vancouver, B.C.
The law firm representing Mr. and Mrs. Heather Mackenzie is advertising for plaintiffs on its web site. The ambulance chasers are telling proposed litigants they will receive no money if the suit is successful. Rather any money recovered will go to some unspecified “research project” after legal fees are of course deducted. Dateline - Richmond, B.C.
The mayor suggested the social be moved to the patio of a nearby bar. Bars are very healthy. Dateline - Halifax, Nova Scotia
24-year-old Robert Leblanc was on the deck of the ship smoking a cigarette when swept overboard and is presumed drowned. None of the news reports mentioned if smoking is banned indoors on Canadian war ships. Halifax Live is reporting that several schools in the Annapolis Valley Regional School Board are re-instituting designated smoking areas for students. As to be expected the anti-smoking nuts are bitching that this sends a terrible message to young people blah, blah, blah. Dateline - Ottawa, Ontario
I can imagine what the CBC’s treatment of this charlatan must have been like. For anyone interested in propaganda, rent The Insider at the .99-cent bin of your local video store. Disney lost a bundle on the Jeffrey Wigand story. Instead of watching The Fifth Estate profile Jeffrey Wigand on CBC, like millions of Canadians I watched CSI: NY. (I have a crush on Melina). On commercials I switched to the Duke-North Carolina basketball game. Great game. Dateline - Toronto, Ontario
The Cloak & Dagger on College is selling $10 annual memberships to its Society of Free Thinkers on Mellow Mondays where you can “smoke your face off.” Chalkers Pub Billiards & Bistro on Marlee Ave. in North York is now the headquarters of the Multi-Cultural Society. Memberships are $5.Smoking is encouraged. Dateline - Thunder Bay, Ontario
Dateline - Regina, Saskatchewan
Dateline - Vancouver, B.C.
What could Vancouver possibly do for an encore to accommodate junkies? Would you believe free heroin? Honest. Canadian Press is reporting that “free pharmaceutical grade heroin” will soon be supplied to Vancouver junkies. I would certainly hope that junkies from North America and around the world would re-locate in beautiful Vancouver to take advantage of this progressive thinking. And Dumber. Canadian Press, the Grope and Flail, the Toronto Red Star etc are all reporting on the B.C. Supreme Court (another dumping ground for Liberal Party appointed social-engineers) allowing certification of a class-action lawsuit against Imperial Tobacco to proceed. This class-action lawsuit is over Light and Mild cigarettes. Kenneth Knight launched the suit. Kenneth Knight happens to be the Pu--- whipped husband of Airspace nutcase Heather Mackenzie. Heather doesn’t have many nice things to say about me on her Airspace web site. I’m all verklempt (choked up). The basis of the suit by Mr. and Mrs. Heather Mackenzie was that the tobacco companies lied about Light and Mild cigarettes. The Liberal government in the mid-1970s mandated the Light and Mild cigarettes. Health Canada is thus a co-defendant in this fiasco. Mr. And Mrs. Heather Mackenzie are a long way from seeing any payoff for their shakedown. Certification is not a judgment of liability. Dateline - Victoria, B.C. “You Have A Duty To
Be Healthy.” Health Is Not A Private Matter” Your Body Belongs To
The State.”
Even the usually wacky B.C. NDP criticized this as a government invasion of privacy and political grandstanding before an election. Dateline - St. John’s, Newfoundland
Mr. Rogers told the CBC:
The bar owners also want the hearings on the proposed smoking ban postponed so an economic impact study could be produced. Dateline - Ottawa, Ontario
The Grope and Flail-the propaganda mouthpiece of the anti-smoking PARASITES- attribute the lost hospitality jobs to the NHL strike rather than smoking bans. Dateline - Toronto, Ontario
As I said, The Toronto Red Star led the charge to have the CPP divest tobacco stocks. Reuters reported on results at Rothmans, Canada’s only publicly traded tobacco company. (Imperial Tobacco is a wholly owned subsidiary of B.A.T.). Despite flat earnings, Rothmans increased its dividend by 20% and announced a 2-1 stock split. Shares of Rothmans rose 7%on Friday. At the same time shares of Torstar B (the parent company of the Toronto Star) remain among the worst performers on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Shares of Torstar are not in the doghouse because hundreds of thousands of Ontarians have suddenly come to their senses and stopped subscribing to this rag, but because older women have stopped buying Harlequin Romances. Harlequin is a wholly owned subsidiary of Torstar. The Red Star’s editorial telling tobacco growers to Drop Dead was the topic of a letter in the Red Star last week by Fred Neickamm, Chair, The Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers’ Marketing Board of Tillsonburg, Ontario. Some excerpts:
Dateline - Simcoe, Ontario
Simcoe.com has reported that the latest mantra of the liars is that second-hand smoke causes inner-ear infections and colds. There is NO EVIDENCE within scientific literature that remotely substantiates these claims. Dateline - Brantford, Ontario
The Six Nations Indian Band paid $120 million in tobacco taxes to the federal government last year. Dateline - Thunder Bay, Ontario
Dateline - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Dateline - Edmonton, Alberta
Local Edmonton anti-smoking PARASITE, Less Hagen, used this as an occasion to ask the Alberta government for more money to straighten out the mess. Dateline - Vancouver, B.C. “Is there anybody out there I haven’t offended?”1950s comedian Mort Sahl.
No word as yet if the campaign involves public service announcements by the Village People singing (Don’t smoke at) The Y.M.C.A. on Will and Grace. In all seriousness, this Balkanization is getting ridiculous. So homosexuals “disproportionately” smoke; so do Jews (except for rich wannabee White Jews who are anti-smoking), Blacks, Indians, Asians, Eastern and Southern Europeans. Be assured if Canadian smokers were all rich heterosexual, blonde-haired, blue-eyed Aryans-there would be no Canadian war on smokers. Dateline - Burnaby, B.C.
A suggestion: given the huge number of head shops in B.C. why not just substitute tobacco with marijuana. Smoking pot seems to be socially acceptable in B.C. Water hookahs are a great way to smoke pot-so I’ve heard. < Back To "I read the news..." > |
TOBACCO
NEWS FROM CANADA
February 28 -
There is quite a bit of tobacco news to report from Quebec. Someone sent
me an article from To Be Magazine, a “Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and
Transgender Magazine.” I confess it’s not my usual kind of reading.
I’m not that kind of guy-not that there’s anything wrong with it. In
a Montreal datelined story, To Be wrote how Quebec’s homosexual
community has been left out of the Quebec’s Liberal government’s
consulting process before imposing a smoking ban.