Lobbyists Accused of Killing New Cigarette Warning Labels

Ottawa abruptly canceled new anti-tobacco measures in September.

Lobbying in Ottawa is nothing new, of course, but it is slightly unusual for the government to change course midstream on such a high profile issue as deterring smoking. The government had planned to increase the size of warning labels on cigarette packs from 50 per cent to 75 per cent and include the number for a quitting hotline on each pack. That was before tobacco industry representatives communicated 82 times with government officials over the course of two years, according to the registry lobby. In September the Ministry of Health announced it would shift its focus to fighting the sale of contraband cigarettes, which the industry often cites as a greater threat to public health than its own products.