RHÉAL SÉGUIN
QUEBEC — From Thursday's Globe and Mail Published on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009 12:00AM EDT Last updated on Friday, Oct. 30, 2009 3:12AM EDT
The Quebec government plans to crack down hard on tobacco smuggling, taking aim at organized crime, as well as the consumers who buy illegal cigarettes and the distributors who sell them.
A bill tabled yesterday proposes stiffer fines and tougher penalties for illegal retailers and manufacturers, and would extend the measures to their customers as well.
The bill would also give local police jurisdiction to stop the sale of illegal tobacco products and allow municipalities to keep all the proceeds confiscated during arrests that eventually lead to convictions.
"If we were be able to collect taxes from all those who smoke contraband cigarettes, we would collect $300-million more per year," Quebec Revenue Minister Robert Dutil said.
"Our objective is to collect all taxes ... and we are convinced that if everyone had no choice but to buy legal cigarettes, a great number of them would quit."
It is estimated that about one-third of all cigarettes sold in Quebec are bought on the black market.
Mr. Dutil said organized crime is manufacturing the illegal cigarettes, and that the new measures could cripple the distribution network.
For the first time, municipal police would be able to arrest and fine consumers and retailers of contraband cigarettes. Local police will be empowered to search cars and even impound vehicles used to transport contraband tobacco. Municipalities would have a stake in the operations because they would be able to keep all fines collected from illegal tobacco sales.
"This clearly shows the political will of the government to put an end once and for all to contraband tobacco ... and bring fairness back in the selling of cigarettes," he said.
Retailers were ecstatic with the initiative, saying that Quebec has become the first provincial government to lay down a clear plan to eradicate the illegal sale of tobacco.
"We are going to use it immediately to get the federal government and the Ontario government to move," said Michel Gadbois, vice-president of the Canadian Convenient Stores Association.
He estimated that if the bill reduces contraband tobacco to 10 per cent of the market rather than a third, as it currently stands, the government will have won the battle.
While the bill aims at illegal manufacturers, which are mainly on native reserves in Canada and the United States, Mr. Gadbois said the real goal is to place the distribution network, right down to the customers, under police scrutiny.
"Even the consumer could be liable to having some kind of fine," Mr. Gadbois said. " The use of the municipal forces means we can actually track down all over Quebec whoever is involved in it."
If the new measures fail to eliminate contraband tobacco, the association will intensify its push for government to reduce tobacco taxes to make illegal smokes less attractive. However, Mr. Dutil said the government has no plan to move in that direction, and high tobacco taxes are here to stay.