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November 2004
TOBACCO NEWS FROM CANADA Comments by Warren Klass President, FORCES - Canada Before I get to the tobacco news from across Canada, I had a request from a girl who is running The Get The Lead out Campaign that wants smokers to send in their empty cigarette packs to the Minister of Health. Her group now has a web site: Dateline - Charlottetown, P.E.I.
Dateline - Montreal, Quebec
An Imperial spokesperson told the media that it was Imperial that repeatedly informed the Quebec government that smuggling was rampant as a direct result of huge tobacco taxes. In other news out of Montreal, the tobacco companies are going to court once again to try to have the nauseating, pornographic images removed from cigarette packs. A press release from the PARASITES at the Canadian Cancer Society alerted us that the Quebec Court of Appeal will be hearing the case on Monday, November 29,2004. Finally from Montreal comes one of the strangest stories I’ve seen in some time. Canadian Press (C.P.) and a few others are reporting that researchers from McGill are claiming that a single gene-CYP2A6-slows nicotine metabolism to the liver making some “nicotine dependent.” This breathtaking finding came from an $800,000 grant from the PARASITES at the Canadian Cancer Society. Dateline - Ottawa, Ontario
The Auditor-General recently released her annual report, and her findings on the anti-smoking antics at Health Canada were completely ignored by the media. But a sharp-eyed Forces Canada reader sent me some very interesting things in the Auditor-General’s report that the media purposely ignored. The Auditor-General demonstrates how millions of tax dollars were pissed away on a campaign against Light and Mild cigarettes. First $9.2 million, and a couple of weeks later an additional $6.7 million were pissed away. Here is what Auditor-General Shelia Fraser wrote about what the taxpayers got for their $16 million: “We saw little documented rational or analysis to support proposed level of saturation or the level of spending. No one at Health Canada could tell us how the global budget for the campaign was established in the first place. Health Canada submitted no advertising plan and spending forecast to CCSB as the government’s communication policy required.” Mrs. Fraser further documented irregularities involving a separate $414,405 anti-tobacco campaign contract. It is not surprising that the Liberal Party does not want the Auditor-General scrutinizing the spending of Canada’s $500 million a year PARASITE INDUSTRY. Dateline - Peterborough, Ontario
Peterborough is now re-considering its policy of banning smoking on school grounds, but as to be expected the anti-smoking PARASITES are bitching. Dateline - Toronto, Ontario
More people smoke in Ontario than vote Liberal in provincial elections. The Grope and Flail’s Report on Business reported that according to Canadian Food and Restaurant Association (CFRA) sales in Ontario declined 17.6% between 1999-2003.This was an average of $106,000 per establishment. Sales were down an additional 7.4% in 2004. Sales in Quebec, which has no smoking ban, however, were up by 22% between 1999-2003. The Grope and Flail’s ROB profiled Charley Fitzwhiskey where sales declined by 25-30% since Toronto’s smoking ban was imposed. The Grope and Flail’s ROB has a weekly Stars and Dogs column devoted to weekly stock market movers. This week’s star was given to Rothman’s, Canada’s only publicly traded tobacco company. The anti-smoking PARASITES have launched a campaign to have the Canada Pension Plan (the world’s biggest Ponzi scheme) divest tobacco stocks, which are the plan’s big winners. Finally from the Big Lemon, CTV news is reporting on the latest fad among Ontario teenagers-chewing tobacco. The kids are apparently oblivious to the fact that chewing tobacco contains the same carcinogens and chemicals as smoked tobacco. CTV reports that the PARASITES see a whole new mission. What a surprise. What is truly surprising is the silence of the PARASITES about repeated media reports that well over 40% on Ontario teens are now pot smokers. The silence of the PARASITES about a product that contains 10-20 times the tar and carcinogens of tobacco are hypocritical to say the least. Dateline - Thunder Bay, Ontario
“We own and operate a local bingohall. Proceeds from each bingo go local charities… In July the smoke-free by-law came into force. It had an immediate effect on the attendance in all bingo halls. We no longer require such a large hall to operate and we moved our business to the Lakehead Labor Center. All the halls have been taking a few breaks in their bingo sessions so the smokers can go outside and smoke. Now that the weather is raining and cold these players are staying away. We had hoped that our move into a clean, bright smoke-free building would bring out the smokers who said they don’t go to bingos because of the smoke… The smoke-free by-law was supposed to put everyone on an even playing field. However, the Mountain Bingo Hall is exempt from this by-law. Many customers have decided they can go there and play bingo and smoke. We expected this would happen, but at the same time we also expected to see non-smoking players coming out to support their local charities. To those who voted for the by-law, please come out and support your local charities and who knows, you might get lucky.” Brad and Mavis
Warula Dateline - Brunkild, Manitoba
If necessary they are prepared to take their challenge to the Supreme Court of Canada. Dateline - Winnipeg, Manitoba
Caption of the editorial cartoon of the Winnipeg Free Press, November 25,2004 Gwynne Dyer is a widely published syndicated columnist. Last week the Free Press printed his column on the war on smokers. Here is an excerpt: “…the Californication of the planet marches relentlessly eastwards-is simply intolerance fuelled by ideology… Smoking really does kill people, though not nearly so many as as the anti-smoking crusaders claim (and the “evidence” for the damage allegedly done to the health of non-smokers by “passive smoking” has been shamelessly inflated or simply contrived.) The point is that we should not be using the law to regulate or punish personal behavior if it does not harm other people… Neither what we ban nor what we permit, in other words, is decided on a rational basis. It is driven by social panic and moralistic propaganda…” Finally from Loserpeg, the story of the “Volcano Vapourizer” at the Silver Heights restaurant (Portage and Sharp Blvd) was profiled in the Winnipeg Sun. This is a device that apparently roasts rather than burning tobacco. Users get a nicotine fix. It produces no second-hand smoke and is thus does not contravene Loserpeg’s anti-smoking by-laws. A German company originally developed the Volcano Vaporizer for pot smokers. Six a month are not surprisingly sold in B.C.The testimonials quoted by the Sun are mixed. Dateline - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
The latest scandal from the Liberal Party involves phony visas for strippers. Apparently this vital industry cannot find Canadian women who want to degrade themselves, and the racket involves the Liberal Party fast-tracking visa applications from Romanian and Dominican women. The Saskatchewan government however, bans alcohol and now smoking while watching strippers. A Saskatoon strip club has now opened a patio between the strip club and an adjacent bar where you can smoke between having a drink and watching the show. In Saskatchewan you can’t do all three at the same time. Dateline - Vancouver, B.C.
The Vancouver Province is reporting that city officials have ordered the clear plastic tarps that protect Vancouver smokers from the rain removed. The pretext? They claim it’s a fire hazard. However, even Scott Henderson, the fire prevention officer at the Vancouver Fire Department scoffed at this as nonsense. Here is the real ugly face of Canadian Liberalism-underneath all the self-serving rationalizations-nothing but a bunch of evil, slimy LIARS. What makes this story even more sickening is that these are the same Liberals who bust the city budget to make sure Vancouver junkies have safe shoot-up sites. Its times like this that I wish I was part of George W. Bush’s America rather than Liberal Canada. Dateline - Gatineau, Quebec
Opposition was led by the local hospitality industry that has cleaned up after Ottawa imposed a smoking ban.
Dateline - Belleville, Ontario
“When you can prove that anti-tobacco lies, the perpetrators just switch to another liar.” Wanda Hamilton
Here are some of the claims regarding second-hand smoke and children: 7% of ear infections, 20% of tonsillectomies (a new one), 13%of doctors visits for coughs, 14% of tube insertions in ears, 11%of asthma cases are because of second-hand smoke.
There is 0%of evidence that remotely substantiates this garbage. If you think I’m exaggerating check out the Forces evidence archives.
Dateline - Orilla, Ontario
Dateline - Toronto, Ontario
“The issue of smoking in public areas has been on the table for years. The idea of having designated smoking areas seemed to be a logical and workable solution. So, without a lot of fuss, people became accustomed to having to locate themselves in the area of their choice…
It sounded like smokers and anti-smokers were willing to work on this together and it appeared to have been effective. Well, apparently not in the eyes of the anti-smokers. Now it’s at a point of we’ve been given an inch, lets take a mile and ban smoking altogether.
We all need to be educated on the possible negative economical impact of a smoking ban. We are already facing a rapidly shrinking rural economy. Please be open minded, what works for some does not work for all. Many small bars and restaurants will not only suffer but will, in fact close. Many businesses cannot afford even the slightest decline in their consumer base. Many youth, sport, and charitable organizations will lose huge amounts of revenue from fundraisers such as bingo.
Why don’t we stop wasting taxpayers’ dollars and allow choice to be the ultimate dictator, not government at any level?
Whether you are for or against smoking, as a consumer the location you patronize becomes your choice. As a business, the consumer base you wish to attract becomes your choice, not that of government.”
Thomas Laprade Thunder Bay, Ontario
Dateline - Winnipeg, Manitoba
Also from Losepeg, it didn’t make the papers but yours truly beat a ticket for smoking in a public place. I pleaded not guilty and the smoke police didn’t show up in court to testify. Case dismissed.
The Crown Attorney said to me:” Warren you probably wouldn’t have gotten a ticket if you hadn’t told the guy to F--- Off.”
Dateline - Vancouver, B.C.
The reality is its just another - yawwwwn - propaganda forum. The PARASITES are blaming increased over 20-year-old smoking on characters in TV and movies.
Yawwwwn.
“The Globe and Mail makes the New York Times look like the Jerry Falwell newsletter” Bill O’Reilly of Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor, quoted in Friday’s the Grope and Flail. Dateline - Fredricton, New Brunswick
Patsy Richard, the owner of Bas-Caraquet told Broadcast News that after losing 40% of her business, she would be forced to close if the smoking ban is not rescinded. Dateline - Montreal, Quebec
Sharon Villeneuve, a spokeswoman for Rose-Marie’s Finest (R.C.M.P.) told the CBC: ”Organized crime groups are just making the most of a bad situation.” No kidding. Dateline - Ottawa, Ontario
I’m convinced that if I took a poll, I would find that 52% of Canadians couldn’t differentiate between a stock and a bond. But never mind. Here are some stock market highlights since the re-election of President Bush: The stock of Altria Group (Phillip Morris) has rallied from about $42(U.S.) to about $58(U.S). Other tobacco stocks have followed. This is in addition to the 5-6% dividends the tobacco companies pay. The Toronto Red Star is Canada’s leading proponent of divestiture. The stock of Torstar declined 9% in one day, not because Torontonians suddenly came to their senses and stopped subscribing to this rag, but because women are not reading Harlequin romances. Harlequin is a subsidiary of Torstar. You’ve come a long way, Baby.The C.P.P.is a major stockholder of Torstar. Shares of Biovail, the maker of generic Wellbutrin (Zyban without the 1-800 number) and other assorted snake oil, is down to $16 from $21 just last week on news that another generic drug maker wants to get into the Wellbutrin racquet. Last year Biovail was as high as $80 a share. The C.P.P is a big shareholder. Shares of Nortel were bellow $4 on news that Nortel still has not filed accounting statements. A couple of years ago Nortel was $150.According to CNBC, the world’s largest shareholder of Nortel is the C.P.P.! Other than tobacco stocks it doesn’t sound like the C.P.P is sitting on too many winners that are needed to pay the millions of Canadians who rely on the C.P.P. The rich loudmouth Quacks at the C.M.A.do not require the C.P.P. Dr. Albert Shumacher, President of the C.M.A. said in the press release:” Canada’s national pension plan must get out of the death business.” Let’s put aside the fact that not a single death in recorded history can be traced etiologically to tobacco, how about the Quacks put away the prescription pads and stop writing prescriptions for drugs that kill people. Vioxx is apparently just the tip of the iceberg. The stocks of Big Pharma (Merck, Pfizer, Bristol Myers, Astra Zeneca, Glaxo, etc) have been killed recently on Wall Street because of safety concerns about the drugs, even though these companies annually pull in Billions thanks to prescription writing Quacks. How about the stocks of alcohol and beer companies? No need to play games with multi-casual diseases like lung cancer (40 causes) or heart disease (300 causes). Drinking to excess can cause liver, kidney and pancreas failure, not to mention drunk driving. How about companies that pollute? Don’t these Quacks keep telling us how many deaths are attributed to pollution? A suggestion to Dr. Shumacher and his ilk at the C.M.A.go back to shaking down Ontario taxpayers for another big raise, and leave the C.P.P. alone. Dateline - Niagara Falls, Ontario
Niagara Falls mayor, Ted Salci told the Red Star that he believes that business will fall by at least 25% at the Niagara and the Fallsview Casino if the smoking ban is extended to Niagara’s casinos. Both casinos have state of the art ventilation systems. The Niagara casinos employ 6,500.When smoking was banned in Loserpeg and Brandon casinos, revenues declined by $30 million and there were countless layoffs. Premier Dolton McGuinty was recently quoted that Ontario was “addicted” to gambling revenues. Mayor Salci told the Red Star:” it’s going to be interesting how they treat their own gambling houses.” Dateline - Brunkild, Manitoba
Dateline - Selkirk, Manitoba
Finley Michaud told the Winnipeg Sun:” I’m pretty pissed off, do you know what I mean?” Smoking, however, is still allowed at Finley’s, and I could still use a ride out there if anyone is going to Selkirk, before their court case at the end of November. Dateline - Winnipeg, Manitoba
”In 10 to 15 years’ time we are going to have an epidemic of cancer in that population. That’s not rocket science. We know this from experience.” It may not be rocket science, but it sounds like bad eschatology. But what has giving all these PARASITES hundreds of thousands every year accomplished? About 75% of Manitoba’s Indians smoke. It seems sending all these PARASITES to winter conferences on teen smoking in Miami hasn’t made a dent in Indian smoking rates. In an uncommon burst of common sense from Health Canada, a spokesman told the Free Press slashing spending on these PARASITES by 50% would not have much effect on Indian smoking rates. No kidding. Dateline - Brandon, Manitoba
If anyone has the slightest latent doubt that smoking bans are about social engineering, to paraphrase President Kennedy: lass sie nach kommen Brandon. Let them come to Brandon. 60% of Maple Leaf Food employees smoke. Maple Leaf Foods to their credit spent $100,000 on a smoking room that conformed to Brandon’s anti-smoking laws. Now because of the Provincial smoking ban, employees can’t use the smoking room. They can’t go outside for a cigarette either due to hygienic concerns for their uniforms. Truckers who make deliveries are barred from smoking in their trucks, even though it can be hours for them to make deliveries. This is truly the ugly face of Today’s N.D.P. Despite their grandiose pretensions and delusions-this is just a new version of Nazism. Dateline - West Vancouver, B.C.
The Grope and Flail reports that West Vancouver, one of Canada’s wealthiest areas has imposed $10,000 fines on restaurants that offend the aesthetics of West Vancouver residents. This is the same West Vancouver that recently passed a law that banned outdoor lighting that” invades your neighbor’s personal space.” Acting mayor Pam Goldsmith-Jones (I love these broads with three names. I used to be married to one.) denied to the Grope and Flail that West Vancouver is becoming” some sort of Big Brother Pleasantville where everyone must toe the same lifestyle line. ”Yeah, right. Before I get to the tobacco news from across Canada, I’d like to pass along a message. Some smokers in Canada have started an “OPERATION GET THE LEAD OUT” campaign. They are asking smokers to send their empty cigarette packages to Health Canada with choice messages. NO POSTAGE IS REQUIRED! If you would like to participate, collect your empty cigarette packages and mail them to: Minister’s Office
–Health Canada Remember-no postage is required because this is correspondence going to the Feds. Dateline - Lambton County, Ontario
Business at the Point Edward Casino is way down. Many of the same Sarnia area restaurants and bars profiled earlier in the week on Forces Canada were also quoted as losing a significant amount of business. The owner of the Hi-Way Bowling alley in Sarnia expects her heating costs to skyrocket this winter because of smokers going outside so often for a cigarette. She likens it to having the door left open in the winter. Dateline - Windsor, Ontario
“Pot can become habitual, and you know what’s in it. Its not like cigarettes that contain chemicals like formaldehyde. Look at what second-hand smoke can do to you.” Obviously this kid is a walking advertisement for what drugs can do your power of thinking, Pot contains 10-20 times the tar and carcinogens of tobacco. Jason do the math. Like, uh, one joint like, uh, is the equivalent of like a pack of smokes. He sure knows what’s in the pot he smokes, or the seeds used to grow it. There are no uniform standards of measurement. The Windsor police were quoted as saying that the THC level in pot (the ingredient that gets you high) has gone from 0.2 in 1960 to between 5-14% today. Obviously B.C.Bud has not made its way to Windsor. The THC level is quite a bit higher. Dateline - Barrie, Ontario
“There has been a significant decrease in sales. We’re just not getting the same volume.” Dateline - Kingston, Ontario
Dateline - Toronto, Ontario
But isn’t the mantra of anti-smoking nuts that smoking bans are to protect the health of non-smokers? Don’t these liars always deny that smoking bans are crude forms of social engineering? Never mind. No media that has trouble keeping track of which lie they publish bothered to print this one. Dateline - Brunkild, Manitoba
The group has started a very good website: Smoke Out Hypocrisy - Manitoba. Guy Desrosier, the owner of the Brunkild Bar and Grill told the Sun:” This legislation is killing prople, both literally and figuratively. People are scared they’ll lose their business.” Dateline - Winnipeg, Manitoba
Health Canada is actually re-directing the money to programs that actually help Indians, and not a bunch of PARASITES. 65% of Indians in Manitoba smoke, according to CBC. Dateline - Montreal, Quebec
JTI claims: the 2000 law was applied retroactively, the statute of limitations were illegally extended, the burden of proof was on the company to prove that it wasn’t involved in smuggling. JTI further claimed that it was denied due process and the assumption of innocence until proven guilty. Here is an excerpt of JTI’s defense that appeared in the Financial Post, the business section of the National Post: “The revenue Minister acted arbitrarily and for improper considerations for the politically expedient purpose of crushing JTI-Macdonald financially and make it virtually impossible for the firm to defend the tax bill… The chilling reality is the Minister unilaterally decided JTI was guilty of smuggling…no evidence whatsoever, not even on a preliminary investigation, but rather…mere suspicions. Rather than doing any serious work the minister embarked on a path to pre-determine JTI-Macdonald’s guilt.” Also from Montreal comes the One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest story on Psychiatric patients and smoking rooms. The Medical Post ran a story that Psych patients denied smoking rights in hospitals spent inordinate amounts of time thinking about cigarettes and not psychological problems. 86.5% of staff in psych wards supported smoking rooms. Dateline - Ottawa, Ontario
To the best of my knowledge not a single media outlet in Ontario considered Mrs. Daigneault’s press release newsworthy. I can’t imagine why. Everyone knows media bias is a myth, isn’t it? Also from Ottawa, the Ottawa Sun reported that the Canadian Medical Association called on the Liberals to impose a Canada-wide smoking ban. The C.M.A. unlike www.mychoice.ca had no problem getting their press release printed. Dateline - Kingston, Ontario
The Whig-Standard loved reminding readers how popular and accepted smoking bans are in Kingston. They seemed genuinely shocked that so many bars and restaurants are now petitioning city council for the same treatment. As to be expected the local anti-smoking nuts are hysterical. Dateline - Sarnia, Ontario
“Bingo proceeds are down, casino attendance is down, and numerous pub owners report a whopping 15 to 25 per cent decrease over last fall.” Some individual businesses were profiled. Here are some casualties: Sales at Thirsty’s Roadhouse on Exmouth Street are down by 20-25%. Boomerang’s Bar and Grill on Confederation reports a 15-20% loss in business. Cravin’s sales are down by 15%. Dateline - Port Hope, Ontario
Carol Kirton, president of the local United Steelworkers of America said that 55% of employees smoke. An earlier attempt at a work-place smoking ban didn’t work. Miss Kirton told the Northumberland News: ”It took me back to high school days, with people smoking in broom closets. As long as cigarettes are for sale at convenience stores, a ban like this violates freedom of choice.” Dateline - York, Ontario
Dateline - Toronto, Ontario
Last week Forces Canada reported on a local story from the Toronto Red Star where a local city councilor, Howard Moscoe proposed taking away the tax exemption of local legions that refused to ban smoking. Other than the Red Star, none of the media reported this story. I am happy to report
that this has changed. The Toronto Free Press’ Arthur Weinrub wrote an
excellent column about this under the headline: City councilor threatens
veterans. Here is an excerpt: Howard Moscoe is a bully. Pushing around a group of elderly and disabled war veterans makes him feel good. If he actually had any guts, he would run over to Afghanistan and force our current troops to butt out. But Afghanistan is dangerous and you pretty well need a weapon over there. Unfortunately the only thing that Howard can shoot off is his oversized mouth. To threaten those who risked their lives and who served this country so well is bad enough, but to do this the week before Remembrance Day is absolutely disgusting. The timing of Moscoe’s threat clearly shows what a poor excuse for a human being he actually is. His sarcastic quip that veterans cannot be allowed to smoke because they are elderly and dying shows a degree of sensitivity usually found in serial killers. To Howard Moscoe, these veterans are nothing more than props-to be used so that the little councilor can show what a big man he is. In a council of anti-war leftists, who are on a never ending quest to control every aspect of people’s lives, Howard Moscoe stands out.” I saw a film today…oh boy. A couple of weeks ago, Forces Canada reported on noted charlatan, Stanton Glantz lobbying the Ontario censor board to restrict entrance to any movie where a character is smoking to those over 18. John Luik, writing in the National Post rebutted Glantz’s obvious sophistry. Here is an excerpt of Dr. Luik’s rebuttal that ran under the headline: Blowing smoke: Recent headline grabbing research that suggests that movies induce teens to smoke is shocking for its junk science epidemiology. “Youth smoking has suffered from 20 years of bad research and simplistic policy prescriptions pushed by the anti-smoking movement that appears not only uninformed but also perversely resistant to anything other than its own tired dogmas. Part of the way forward, to finding an answer to why kids smoke is not to buy into anything as alluring simplistic and wrong as the Glantz-Dalton show.” The Grope and Flail is reporting on the latest whining and bitching from the anti-smoking PARASITES. What are they bitching about NOW? Would you believe that Competition Bureau of Canada has sat on the complaints for 17 months regarding Light and Mild cigarettes from: Gar Mahoodlum of the Non-Smokers Rights Association, Ottawa Public Health Quack, Robert Cushman, who besides being responsible for Ottawa’s smoking ban, gave the world the Heather Crowe diagnosis, and Mary Jane Ashley public health professor at the University of Toronto. Its nice to see that a minority Liberal Government sees the Federal Bureaucracy as doing more than serving the whims of Canada’s PARASITE class. Finally from Toronto, Douglas Needham, the President of the Canadian Restaurant and Food Services Association, wrote a column for the National Post entitled A smoking ban’s forgotten victims. Mr. Needham warns of dire consequences to the $21 Billion industry and 491,000 employees in Ontario if the province-wide smoking ban is imposed. Dateline - Treherne, Manitoba
Mr. Jenkinson told The Sun:” Definitely…we have every intention of getting this fascist law thrown out. What ever happened to our charter of rights? “None of these people have worked a day in the restaurant business, yet they can dictate what we can and can’t do.” Smokers are still free to light up at the Creekside Hideaway. Dateline - Brandon, Manitoba
Dateline - Burnaby, B.C.
Thus I am probably not the person who should be commenting on this latest lunacy out of where else-but B.C.-Canada’s answer to California. Knowledge Network, apparently a B.C. provincial government TV station is looking for-count ‘em-five people who want to make total asses of themselves by starring in a quit smoking TV show. The camera will follow around the five while they have sessions with a psychologist who is “a smoking cessation specialist”-whatever that is. There will be contests and prizes for the lucky winners. Surprise-surprise-Health Canada, the B.C. Lung Association, and the Kaiser Foundation are funding this idiocy. Be sure to set your VCRs for this Must See TV. Dateline - Renous, New Brunswick
November 10 - The first casualty has been reported as a direct result of prison smoking bans. Broadcast News reported that an inmate was stabbed during a prison riot over smoking bans in a jail at Renous, New Brunswick. Dateline - Toronto, Ontario
For the most part the usual anti-smoking hyenas at the Grope and Flail and Toronto Red Star have been uncharacteristically silent about this. The opinion page of the Grope and Flail and Toronto Red Star have been too busy lamenting the re-election of President Bush to pay attention and applaud the Dolton Gang’s latest intrusion. How long will it be before the working class in Ontario, follows the heroism of Red State voters and does Ontario and the rest of Canada a favor by sending both the Provincial and Federal Liberal Party packing? As I said, the reaction of the Toronto anti-smoking media has been muted. Christina Blizzard of the Toronto Sun marvels at the hypocrisy of the Federal Liberals de-criminalizing marijuana, while the Provincial Liberals are planning a province-wide smoking ban. Only the National Post’s Adam Radwanski took issue with the Dolton Gang. An excerpt: “Now, the proposal to take the campaign a few steps further are starting to get goofy. The state may have no place in the bedrooms of the nation, but the Ontario Medical Association suggests it start poking around inside our cars to make sure nobody is lighting up in vehicles used to transport children. An American activist ventures north of the border to instruct the Ontario Film Revue Board to hand any movie featuring smoking scenes-including kid-friendly fare like Shark Tale and Harry Potter films-a restricted rating. And now, a Provincial Health Minister endeavors to tell ageing legion members that if, even if nobody in their private club has a problem with smoke, they’ll have to go outside to have a cigarette.” There was a huge uproar throughout Canada when a Bloc Quebecois M.P. refused to hand out the Canadian flag to a Quebec Legion. However, when Toronto city councilor, Howard Moscoe gave Toronto area legions an ultimatum-either ban smoking or lose their tax-free status, the story received no national attention. Only the Toronto Red Star covered the story as local news. Some Americans have e-mailed me that Toronto based www.mychoice.ca has rescinded memberships of Americans. Americans are always welcome at Forces Canada. Americans have sent many stories that appeared in Forces Canada. President Kennedy said in Ottawa in 1961:”Geography has made us neighbours. History has made us friends.” Finally from Toronto a bit of a stock market update. Yahoo Finance reported that Canada’s largest pharmaceutical company Biovail reported that sales of generic Wellbutrin rose to $86 million from $8.2 million the year before. Wellbutrin is Zyban without the 1-800 quit smoking number, for a fraction of the price. Even with the booming sales of Wellbutrin, the stock of Biovail got crushed. The other snake-oil products showed declining sales. The Canada Pension Plan is a big owner of Biovail stock. For those that missed it last time in Forces Canada, the stock of Torstar (Toronto Star) lost 9% in one day on disappointing sales of Harlequin Romances. By co-incidence, the Toronto Star is the big proponent of the C.P.P. divesting tobacco stocks. The C.P.P. owns Torstar stock as well. The stock of Altria (Phillip Morris) has been on flying since the welcome re-election of President Bush. Luckily the C.P.P. owns stock in Altria, and the other tobacco companies. Dateline - Kingston, Ontario
The Whig-Standard reports that 7-8 city councilors are prepared to support the motion. The anti-smoking nuts, as to be expected are hysterical. Dateline - Cambridge, Ontario
“Ticketing people who are smoking in their vehicles at Cambridge Memorial Hospital is abhorrent. They are in their own cars on private property. Smoking and second-hand smoke is not affecting anybody but themselves. They may be on hospital grounds, but they are enclosed within their own private property. How fanatical can you purists be? Absurd, crazy. Out of your cotton-pickin minds. What’s next, a sign above the entrance to the entrance to the hospital grounds:” No smoking within nine metres from the hospital grounds”? What the hell is the matter with you fanatics?” Thomas Laprade Dateline - Winnipeg, Manitoba
Revenues from the Regent and Mc Phillips casinos are down 19.5%. VLT revenues are down by 8%. A private business profiled by the Sun, Tubby’s Pizza on Stafford (my former haunt) reported a 16% loss on VLT revenues since the smoking ban was imposed. Manitobans are not worried. The rest of Canada will just increase equalization payments, as they always do. It’s a lucky thing that Ontario keeps electing Liberals to send equalization payments to Manitoba. Dateline - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
The Saskatoon Star-Phoenix had a change of heart, and published the effects which are even more devastating than the numbers leaked to Forces Canada: charity bingo revenues are down by $1.2 million after just three months. The 300 charities, sports teams, service clubs and bands that rely on revenue from bingos have seen a $726,000 decrease in revenues. The Golden Arrow Bingo Hall will close its doors December 1. Dateline - Regina, Saskatchewan
As this is written Saturday, before the semi-final game between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Edmonton Eskimos-the Riders have a better chance of winning the Grey Cup than the N.D.P. will sacrifice ideological fanaticism for common sense. Dateline - Jaspar, Alberta
Citizens have launched formal complaints with Revenue Canada, about the antics of the PARASITES in Alberta. No action has as yet been taken. But Revenue Canada has found the time to attempt to strip the Archdiocese of Calgary of its charitable status because a Cardinal or Bishop criticized Paul Martin over abortion. The following letter on this topic was published last week in the Jaspar Booster. Here is the complete letter: “Regarding the comments of Ginette Marcoux-Frigon, a member of Smoke Free Jaspar, in respect to the advertising run by the municipality of Jaspar (Coalition expected more “YES” votes in smoking bylaw-Oct.27 Booster). Ms. Marcoux-Frigon stated;” Buying advertising and using taxpayer dollars to put a ballot in the paper and tell people how exactly to vote I thought was inappropriate.” When did Smoke-free Jaspar get its funds from? If any of its funding came from Smoke-free Alberta, those were either taxpayer dollars or monies donated to charities for charitable-not political purposes. Did Smoke-free Jaspar receive any grant monies through Action on Smoking and Health, to “sponsor community mass media activities that support the development and/or implementation of 10 per cent smoke-free bylaws”? If so, those funds came from Health Canada and were taxpayer dollars. Does Ms. Marcoux-Frigon think the $850,000 in taxpayer dollars diverted by Chief Medical Officer of Health for Ottawa, Dr. Robert Cushman, to promote the 100 per cent smoke-free campaign in that city-which set the standard for campaigns such as Smoke-free Jaspar, was inappropriate”? There seems to be more than a hint of hypocrisy in Ms. Marcoux-Frigon’s complaint.” Roy Harrold Dateline - Summerside, P.E.I
Dateline - Toronto, Ontario
What do they mean by “denormalization?” It’s a grandiloquent way of saying fascism. The brilliant writer and philosopher Hannah Arendt once defined fascism as:” the normalization of barbarity.” And here I though that the Liberal Party was already practicing imposing this punishment agenda on the smokers of Canada. Two things worth noting: The PARASITES are not calling for tobacco to be illegal in Canada. This would jeopardize their $500 million a year gravy train from the taxpayers of Canada-and not one paper as yet bothered to re-print the C.P. story. As if Canada did not have enough home grown PARASITES, we now have to import them from the U.S.The National Post reported on a proposal from noted charlatan Stanton Glantz to have Ontario be the first and only jurisdiction in the world to ban under 18 from seeing a movie where a character smokes. Such dangerous films that would be affected include: Shark Tale, Mean Girls, and Harry Potter. Nancy Daigneault of www.mychoice.ca told the National Post:” There are movies out there that show decapitation, murders, sex, drunkenness, and that’s OK, as long as no one is smoking a cigarette.” Other than the National Post, I couldn’t find a single media outlet in Toronto or the rest of Canada that found the lies of Stanton Glantz to be newsworthy. The University of Toronto anti-tobacco PARASITES put out a study that claims that smoking bans lead to the consumption of 4 less cigarettes a day. Michael McFadden points out that this contradicts a California study that found smoking bans don’t lead to less consumption. Two points worth noting: other than CTV News, I could not find a single media outlet that found this junk newsworthy. Point two: aren’t smoking bans supposed to be about protecting the health of non-smokers and not about crude social engineering? The Grope and Flail’s Report on Business reported that at a charity dinner hosted by Rothman’s, the nameplate on the table read ”anonymous.” Even though Rothman’s was the corporate sponsor of the charity, Rothman’s was so worried about breaking Canada’s sponsorship laws that their designation was” anonymous.” Finally from Toronto, speaking of Rothmans, Yahoo finance reported that Rothmans reported flat earnings, although its dividend is still in the 6% range. The stock was unchanged. The Toronto Red Star that has led the charge for the Canada Pension Plan to divest tobacco stocks also reported earnings. Due to plunging sales in its Harlequin Book division (I can’t believe women still read this junk) earnings at Torstar were terrible and the stock fell by 9% in one day. What a brilliant contrarian move for the C.P.P-.sell tobacco stocks and buy Torstar. I’m sure there are a ton of women anxious to buy the latest Harlequin Romance. You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby. Dateline - Thunder Bay, Ontario
“The biggest weapon the Crusaders have is the ignorance of the public about second-hand smoke. If the public was better and truthfully informed about second hand smoke, there would be far less smoking bylaws in this country. The objection to ‘Crusaders’ is not that try to think as they do, but they try to make us do as they think! Crusaders’ half-truths are the same as the difference between Lightning and Lightning Bug. Crusaders say a thing that you know is untrue, in the hope that if you keep saying it long enough, it will be true! Crusaders are people so addicted to exaggeration that they can’t tell the truth without lying… Morality is simply the attitude the Crusaders adopt towards smokers whom they personally dislike. Don’t be fooled by doctors just because they have a MD behind their name. That doesn’t make his lies and half-truths better than the next guy, he only thinks it does.” Thomas Laprade The following is an excerpt of a letter that appeared last week in the Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal: “So, the charity casino has all but admitted that the smoking ban has hurt them financially (Casino slot revenues slide, Oct.22/04). Have they thought of the additional effect winter is going to have? But not to worry, two years or so from now the slide may stop. I’m sure other businesses are starting to feel the loss caused by the bans. Bars, bingos, and restaurants-do all these small businesses have the financial wherewithal to hold out for at least two years? Isn’t it interesting to know you’ll get a larger fine ($5,000) for smoking in the wrong spot than if you’re caught drunk driving or with 28 grams of marijuana. Lets not forget that one joint has the equivalent toxins of four cigarettes (Editors note-one joint of B.C.Bud has the equivalent toxins of 10-20 cigarettes)… Right now we see the cigarette issue swing its pendulum far too extreme, but perhaps in the future we’ll see it back to tolerance and back from fanatic fear.” Jim Little Dateline - Selkirk, Manitoba
Subsequent to the Sun, Canadian Press picked up the story of Finley’s restaurant refusing to ban smoking. Forces Canada readers from across Canada and the U.S. wanted me to convey to Leslie and Finley Michaud their support. I was supposed to get a ride to Selkirk next week to go to Finley’s but it fell through. If anyone is planning to go to Selkirk, can you give me a ride from Winnipeg? Finley’s is only open until 8:00 P.M. I promised Leslie I would show her some material that could be handy, if and when she is finally charged. Leslie and Finley could face up to $3,000 fines, but insist they want to challenge the constitutionality of Manitoba’s smoking ban. Dateline - Brunkild, Manitoba
The Smoke Police saw an interview with him on a local TV station protesting the ban and sent out a warning letter. The Smoke Police never actually visited his restaurant. Brunkild is about 35 minutes south of Winnipeg. < Back To "I read the news..." > |
TOBACCO
NEWS FROM CANADA
November 29 -
CBC is reporting that the P.E.I. government is banning the sale of
tobacco products in pharmacies. What this sanctimony is supposed to
accomplish is anybody’s guess.