National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco spokesman Gary Grant helps release the watchdog group's first report card during a press conference in Ottawa on May 26, 2010.Sean Kilpatrick
A coalition of groups representing retailers, tobacco companies, border security agents, tax opponents and police says the federal government has turned a blind eye to the problem of illegal cigarettes.
The National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco says more mobile border security is needed between regular crossings to cut the huge influx of smuggled cigarettes from the United States. Of particular concern is the Akwesasne reserve near Cornwall, Ont., which is the source of much of the problem.
In addition, a coalition spokesman told reporters on Wednesday, the government must persuade aboriginal leaders to help put an end to the smuggling.
"We are advocating very strongly that we need an effective border patrol," said Ron Moran, president of the Customs and Immigration Union, one of the coalition members.
The coalition gave the Harper government an overall grade of D for its efforts to stop illegal cigarettes, a problem that puts tobacco in the hands of children, cuts profits for corner stores and reduces the amount of tax collected by the federal and provincial governments.
Smuggling was curtailed several years ago when tobacco taxes were significantly reduced. But the taxes have crept back up, making it once again profitable to bring cigarettes to Canada illegally and to produce them in illegal factories in this country.
The coalition does not advocate cutting taxes again - although the group says taxes should be harmonized across provinces and should not be increased. Rather it wants better security at the borders and new laws that would allow provincial and municipal police officers to get tough with smugglers.
And they want the government to deal with the politically difficult issue that it is aboriginals who are responsible for much of this crime.
"The fact is there is a great awareness of where this crime is located and who is conducting some of the activities," said Kevin Gaudet, the head of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, one of the coalition members. "Hopefully they can work together with aboriginal leadership."
The coalition gave the government an F for failing to deliver on a promised education campaign, an F for failing to deal with contraband, a D for providing law enforcement resources, a C for border security to deal with smuggling, an F for fiscal responsibility to prevent tax losses and a C for the penalties it imposes for smuggling.