The looks on peoples faces when tuition, groceries, gas, amongst other things will be priceless when the taxes and revenue that cigarettes brought in is introduced into those things mentioned after the banning of cigarettes. I won't care about the new taxes though cause I will have the extra money to afford them cause I spend thousands on cigarettes.

Non-smokers will think it's a victory but in the long run it won't be. one of the posters mentioned that everyone has their own poison and one day one of their luxuries will be scrutinized too be it video games, alcohol, fast food, etc. I won't be there to defend those under fire and i'm sure many other people won't be either.

Ban cigarettes...I dare them to.

It's the hypocrisy of the Government that irks me the most. If HaHaHarper is so concerned about smokers health why has he not yet BANNED cigarettes and why has his government cut back on quit smoking resources ? Any guesses...it's because the tax revenue would be too hard hit if we all managed to quit smoking. As an aside, why are there no warning labels on booze bottles? After all more people are killed by drunk drivers than smoking drivers....Any guesses?....because drinking is socially acceptable and probably most of our employees in Ottawa drink and it would not be nice for the to see the gin bottle with a picture of a dead person.

Ridiculous!
Tax the non smokers they deserve to pay the piper! I am sick of the sin taxes on smokes and booze. Make sure every single person picks up their fair share of the tax burden we smokers and drinkers payout! Get all the self righteous SOB's
As for gov'ts, stay out of this as it will produce and underground economy bigger than drugs! As I will not pay crazy amounts of tax for a legal product. More 100,000$ cops to enforce will be needed. Some hero that is.

I was under the impression we were a free country?

Higher taxes don't work but cutting smokers off medical treatment related to smoking might get them thinking!

Leave the smokers alone. Target the non smokers instead. The legal age to smoke is 18. Next year change it to 19. The following year make it 20 and the next year 21. Soon the legal age to smoke will be 40. Most people start smoking when they are in their teens. This way, anyone to young to smoke will never become legal. People who are already legal can continue to kill them selves if they wish to do so.

Death to taxes and smokers!

How many people die each year in motorized vehicle accidents? Should we ban cars? How many die with alcohol related illnesses? Should we ban alcohol? Smoking is already banned for teens, but is it enforced? There are many ways to die or get a disease in this world and smoking plays a small part in the overall picture. It is time this country allows it's citizens to live their own life without all the regulations telling us how we should live it!

Its a fact smoking kills many people and the health care costs millons of dollors a year maybe if you had to pay for the treatment yourself it woudnt seem so glamous

Its a fact smoking kills many people and the health care costs millons of dollors a year maybe if you had to pay for the treatment yourself it woudnt seem so glamous

Lets keep it up. Tax, tax, tax. Ban, ban, ban. Lets make the cigarette bootleggers and blackmarket people rich like they did in prohibition. Then lets spend alot of tax payers money trying to stop it like the war on drugs. Yeah right!

NO MORE TAXES. Leave us smokers alone. Society says smoking is so bad, I agree it is, but what about alcohol. Alcohol is portrayed as a wonderful pass time, the only way adults can have fun. They never show the next day when the person is vomiting from a hang over, or all the people who are alcoholics. You don't see the parents who are always drinking and leaving their young children alone, the fighting alcohol causes, etc. AND all the drinking and driving that occurs and takes so many lives. What about more taxes on alcohol? I am a smoker and I am hurting myself. I smoke outside, away from people. Stop making us smokers as the evil people.

While people should be allowed to smoke if they want to, they should not be able to smoke in public. They should only be allowed to smoke in their own home/car. Second hand smoke can be extremely bothersome for non-smokers. And as a non-smoker, I'd rather be stuck smelling someone's fart than someone's second hand smoke!

The sad thing is, all the taxes people pay on their smokes doesn't cover the cost of healthcare for them when they end up in hospital for cancer.

Yes smokers have rights but why don't you just pay your own health care costs for the self inflicted harm. You agree to that and I will stop hassling the smokers. yes there is pollution from vehicles etc but 2 wrongs don't make a right.

Also the charter of rights in Canada refers to discrimination towards a list of categories, sex, age etc; I didn't see smoking as one of them.

I smoked for 18 years but quit 19 years ago when I had my first child. My husband, father and some of my friends and siblings still smoke. (I love them all by the way). Because I must have smelled just as bad as them I didn't realize how repulsive it was. When people come into my place of work after just putting out a cigarette, they smell so disgusting that I quickly serve them so they can leave. It's truly disgusting. I completely know how hard it is to give it up after so many years but it really is socially unacceptable now and reality is that smokers are looked down upon. Nothing makes me madder than seeing parents smoking in their cars when their kids are with them. I watched my Mother struggle to take her last breath from smoking related lung cancer and COPD. Don't even try to make excuses about the environment, alcohol or any other addictions. You are what you are, just admit it. If you want to smoke then do it but do it by yourself where the other 83% of us don't have to smell it or watch you light up your cigarette while you cough up a lung. Become a closet smoker and do not smoke around children who will get the impression that it is a good thing to do and harmless.

As a smoker, fellow Canadian citizens asked me few times this winter to move away just few steps if I want to keep smoking, which I did, I moved away from my spot under the covered entrance of the building where I work, to a spot where I expose myself to the rain and make these people satisfied…
Unfortunately, my personal experience tells me that this type of behavior is just increasing; it tells me also that we have lost it, as Canadians… to kick someone out under harsh weather, it could be 100% legal, but we have lost it.

I think banning smoking in outdoor public places is long overdue. I should be able to go to the park or the beach without breathing in second hand smoke. This happens more than "twice a month" like someone else mentioned. That is a huge understatement.

sure you go for it and watch that under ground econamy grow that you cant seem to tax

Good luck,if people haven't quit with the current prices of tobacco they won't with even higher prices. Stopping the industry from selling tobacco products will only lead to people harvesting their own leaf and there goes the tax cash cow. Most people realize that direct inhaling burning ash results in a tar residue that has to be damaging their lungs far more than anything else in the environment.If that realization hasn't had an effect leave them to their destiny.

As a smoker I have always respected the rights of non-smokers but as a non-driver I can't say that my rights have been respected. On a daily basis basis I have to put up with exhaust fumes from cars, semi's & buses, not to mention the many chemical plants spewing out god know what! These, in my opinion, are more likely to cause cancer than breathing in 2nd hand smoke occasionally. Smokers rights, and pocketbooks, have been infringed on enough. The government needs to look at cutting their own paycheques, pensions and EXPENSES, which are obscenely huge, to help dig us out of the hole they got us into. You can't expect adding more taxes to only 17% of the population is going to even make a dent in the red hole!! I am so fed up with hearing about the dangers of smoking - what about the dangers of alcohol and gambling! I have seen more death, violence, & destruction of families because of alcohol and gambling than smoking, yet these addictions are publicly promoted. Not understanding the logic here . . . oh wait, the gov't makes billions off these vices!!

Canadains may need to move to a Communist Country as it appears the Commies will have more freedom & rights than we do. Enough is enough with the Lobby groups. Just like the global warming scam and the dirty oil.
Oh and while the government is at it they might well ban Sex or tax it and see how that goes over.

J on, what color is the sky in your world? You honestly believe you are in better shape then a teenager who doesn't smoke? What a fucking moron you are. I hope they raise the price to $60 a pack just for you. I suppose you would pay it like a good little sheep. You are a slave to the tobacco industry and WILL be a drain on the health care system. Just die already.

Everyone should have the freedom to smoke if they wish to, but... there is no reason why the Canadian tax-payer should foot your bill when you run into a smoke related problem like cancer. You should have the freedom of paying that yourself.

Larry! You have it right. I would also like you all to note the terminology used for determining the the cancer facts. Cancer is no longer the highest killer of Canadians but still one of the biggest money donation receipients. When they say lung cancer is the highest of killers that doesn't mean from smoking either. That's just the pointed finger. I stayed in shape my whole life and when I was a smoker I ran a multitude of Marathons, Ironmans, 10k, 5k, Biathalons. Do you think I was last. Wrong my last Ironman competition I was 25 th over all and had a smoke at the end. My age at that time 50. I quit smoking 7 years later. I'm now 58 and I still run daily. I know that I may be the exception but guess what. Don't blame smokers for out of shape, discusting habits, your drinking is a problem for me. BAN DRINKING, ANYWHERE it causes spousal abuse, liver problems, fights, driving convictions, death from a mulitude of reasons. Try that one you spineless Bast****

Sad to say we are all puppets in the grand scheme of things, we elect people who we think have our best interests in hand yet they in turn are controlled by the puppet masters one of which is the Federal Reserve Bank. As time goes on our rights and freedoms will be taken away leaving nothing but our own thoughts and memories.
Embrace the New World Order !!! novus ordo seclorum", ..lol
Such a terrible waste of time and effort.

Thave a good day. :-)

Poor blind sheeple. Big tobacco owns you and you can't face that sad fact. I say ban new smokers and let the remaining idiots smoke themselves to death, give them what they want. Can't complain about losing your right (to live) then now can you?

How about a tax on junk food and fast food?

Pretty sure that by right now, obesity largely caused by bad food/junk food habits is costing us more and killing more people than smoking does.

Me and my hubby are ex smokers and would LOVE to see Canada smoke free!
We'd have more room in the hospitals for real emergancies and many mor Doctors available.
Smoking has no good benefits! NONE!!!

I am a smoker and I continue to try and quit and I know I will someday. Bottom line is they should stop making cigarettes. Of course they won't only because they will lose out on all those tax dollars. They certainly won't think about the number of people who will end up unemployed....look at all the people/business that hurt when they ban smoking in bars & restaurants. Yes, smoking does cause lung cancer but recently on TV there was a talk about the number of people who have lung cancer and never smoked a day in their lives....they say it is environmental!! Oh well when our ticket is up the big guy in the sky will come and get each and everyone of us someday!!

Because prohibition and the drug war worked so well..

Because prohibition and the drug war worked so well..

NO. No more bans. As we are doing now, the health risks are well known and well distributed. Let individuals make up their mind.
This from someone who has never smoked.

I would support the higher taxes on smoking, there are more sick days for employees that smoke than non smokers, it is time for more people to quite. To walk by in a park or sports event or family activity and having to smell the smoke it disgusting.

For the record, smokers pay more than enough tobacco tax to fund extaordinary life saving health care measures should they be needed as a result of smoking. Second hand smoke is minor in comparison to vehicle emissions and industrial air pollutants. Smokers in reality by already paying extreme taxes for their habit are in all likelyhood funding the heath care of obese and inactive citizens of all ages who have any number of health problems . Iam not a smoker.

"Skyrocketing taxes" will achieve nothing......Actually it will only make sure that even more people go get their at the reserve.....Only an idiot would buy them at a grocery store......Most people I know are buying from the reserve.......

I was a very heavy smoker and user of other tobacco products but stopped years ago when it became too expensive for me to enjoy the pleasure of smoking. Stop blaming tobacco for human frailities. If tobacco is the cause of cancer why do the majority of smokers not get cancer while alot of non-smokers get cancer? I recall seeing Mr Trundle on TV at 109 years of age and still smoking. It is in the genes and those with poor genes should not smoke. We know that nicotine enhances the brain function and is prescribed to alleviate the effects of alzheimer's disease. So there is some good in smoking. I am days away from 78 years of age and I still know my name which may not be the case for some lifetime non-smokers of my age. I agree with Jim, get the drugs and booze out of our society and we can all live more safely, free from the accidental deaths and crime that ensues from the use of these substances

If you want to stop smoking make it illegal to sell tobacco products...simple.

ps. YOU DON"T NEED TO SUPPORT THE LEGISLATION. The Conservatives have a major and it's painfully obvious they have no issue with running roughshod over the parlimentary process. THEY WILL PASS IT ANYWAY!

Since the product is not illegal, just why should they be able to get away with it. I'm a non-smoker, and the current levels of regulation are just fine. They whine about Health Care costs, yet they allow GM foods, and CFL's, which contain mercury, one of the most toxic substances out there, all because big corporate loggyists pay government people big bucks. This is a VERY slippery slope. What next.... Hmmm, let me see. Booze? A case can be proven that booze, in all it's forms, takes up as much if not more of our tax dollars in health care, women shelters, drunk driving accidents. Think it won't happen? We've seen them try to tax "fat foods". I'm sure McikeyD's lobbied hard and spent millions to squash that, for now. At some point in time they will have banned everything, all in the name of lower health care costs. The model is broken, and they're nickel and diming our freedoms. Be careful, citizens!

I was reading all the previous comments and as many commentors stated smoking is a personal choice that they have the right to make, I'm wondering, what about the people who choose not to smoke as it is there right also?

Canada! You speak with fork tongue. I'm a non smoker. We talk about the perils of smoking but we want to decrimialize marajuana, to be smoked, we try to give pill version of Mary-Jane but that's not what people want they want to smoke Pot. Liberals and NDP in the lead. Well you can't have it both ways. I hate taxes, I don't care what they're for. I'm starting to Hate Government for listening to smoke haters and tree huggers. Hell it costs so much to live these days with car fuel, heating fuel, electricity, vehs, etc..... all taxed by your Government. Now you want them to tax even more. I want Fat tax too. I want people that are over weight by 30 lbs to be taxed for their fat a**. Lets see how far that goes. Hippies and tree huggers are what gets our Country taxed out of control and half of them probably don't pay taxes. Life long learners and never pay their education bills. I'm sick of it all.

Smoking should be banned from outdoors in parks, and AT SCHOOL. if you want to smoke it should be free will, but it should be done in your own home. IF you dont want to smoke in your house because you dont want it to smell, or harm your child, then why are you smoking in the first place? What about other poeople who have children at the parks, highschools, PEOPLE WITH ASTHMA that might be beside you ( like me). I use to smoke, but now i realized this and stopped, my lungs were getting really bad. my uncle is missing a lung and hes never smoked in his life, its just from second hand smoking. so smokers should have the freedom to kill themselves if they want because taking away their smokes would resuly REALLY badly in my opinion and canada would be STRESSED lol. But they should smoke in their own premises, and let other canadians who want cleaner lungs to have freedom to do so also. :)

Yes Canada follwo suit this is the most disgusting filtiest habit that a person does, and taxes the xmokes 1000% tax.shut down filthy tobacco.

No, I would support no such ban. I am an ex-smoker and have not had a single puff of a cigarette for 17 years, and furthermore I find cigarette smoke obnoxious but I am still against a ban.

All those knee-jerk, politically correct automatons who find themselves automatically falling into line with any arbitrary gesture of further control the system wishes to impose on us, should go back and read George Orwell's "1984" and Franz Kafka's "The Castle" and "The Trial".

"1984", written in the early 1900's, predicted a police state where our every waking and sleeping moments are monitored on camera by the State. Where a manipulated language called "Newspeak" keeps ordinary citizens in a state of perpetual confusion by calling Love, Hate and calling Hate, Love. Referring to Peace as War and War as Peace and so on. A State where personals freedoms of speech, thought and privacy have ceased to exist.

"The Castle" and "The Trial", in different stories, speak of the hapless citizen pitted against an oppressive, impenetrable and finally surreal form of bureaucracy which controls our lives from cradle to grave.

These are the types of nightmarish societies that we are allowing ourselves to be drawn into. As each little freedom is stripped away from us, allegedly for our benefit, we become progressively more enslaved by the system. "Fight, fight, fight against the dying of the light."

You smokers just don't get it. If most of you weren't such irresponsible slobs, thinking you have the right to discard your butts anywhere you want, from throwing them out your vehicle's windows, emptying your ash trays on highway off ramps, to discarding them at the front of the stores your going into, maybe, just maybe you might get a little compasion from non-smokers, if it wasn't so evident you couldn't care less about what other people think of you. Why then would you think non-smokers, which by the way, is the majority of the population, would endorse a habit that turns the user into a person like that. Do you honestly think I like driving down the road and a lighted dart flys at my windshield? In the end, the cigarette wins, you start feeling out of breath while trying to attempt to do the most meanial tasks, coughing up bloodied flem and let it sail anywhere you want (how digusting), then you decide you had better get it checked out, only to find that it's one of the many cancers related to your habit. Please, don't worry about your rights, worry about your health. Statistics have proven, your body starts to rebel after injesting those toxic poisons between 30 to 35 years, some sooner, but by then, it's too late. Why would you want to end your life like that? I just don't get it...... Quit caring just about yourselves, but the loved ones that surround you. If you care about them, QUIT?

Even your headline is frightening.."should Canada be smoke free". Why not ask, "Should Canada become a more complete Communist State"? Led by the media, we have been making steady progress towards becoming one for the last few decades. If we didn't have a 'welfare' health care system, would smoking even be a state concern? I've never been a smoker but the removal of individual rights and freedoms scares me much more than smoking.

Smoking is NOT illegal so quit trying to make it illegal. It is an individual's choice to smoke. They are aware of all the risks. They pay the price of inflated costs for cigarettes, which continue to go up every year. Just think if no one smoked? What would the govenrment tax then?? Quit yer bitchin' already!! They pay the price, time and time again.

I think it is absolutely rediculous to even think about the idea of putting a country wide ban on smoking. As a person that smoked for 35 years myself I believe that when people are ready to quit they will do so on their own just like I did 6 years ago. What I find incredibly stupid is the fact that our government will not allow the sale of elctronic cigarettes that contain nicotine in this country, yet approve products for sale like the patch and nicotine gum that have less than a 4% success rate in helping people get off cigarettes. By allowing the sale of these other products the government is already agreeing with science that nicotine is not the bad guy it is the tar and other chemicals in the smoke produced by burning tobacco. Instead of trying to put rediculous bans in place, leave the smokers alone and allow the sale of real alternatives that actually work so that those that truly want to give up tobacco have a choice. If the government insists on putting bans in place then start within the governmental structure itself. Fire and remove health care rights from all politicians that smoke or allow smoking on their personal premises and see how that goes.

I don't agree. If I want to smoke I will no matter what the government says, this is suppose to a free country, are we back in the time of Hitler where he made the rules and you had to obey or else. That is what the government is making me feel like. Who are they to tell me what to do, I am an adult the last time I looked and I will make my own decisions not them.