2013 Quiet Story: The Contraband Tobacco Bill
By N Oji Mzilikazi
Originally appeared in Montreal Community Contact Volume 24, Number 01 January 9, 2014
Prior to the video surfacing of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford so empowered by alcohol intoxication that he vented he could kill someone, the March 26, 2013, Toronto Star quoted Councillor Sarah Doucette saying: “Other councillors have reported, ‘for at least a year,’ seeing Ford appearing intoxicated at ‘festivals, galas, and other evening events.’”
Given the weight of statistical and irrefutable evidence in regards to alcohol and its harm, also the steadily increasing consumption of alcohol by youths, you’d think the Federal government would gladly expend energies towards a national strategy to reduce alcohol consumption; educate John Public on the harmful effects of alcohol, and see to it that television is free from alcohol advertisements.
In keeping with the Harper government penchant to serve the interests of Big Business and protect streams of revenue, an alcohol policy is not on its agenda. Tobacco is – and not from a health standpoint…