Starting Thursday morning, smokers will be paying $4 more for a carton of cigarettes following a measure introduced in the 2018 provincial budget. The government needs to figure out another way.” Cunningham says the federal government has included other measures to reduce contraband tobacco in their budget. According to the 2018 federal budget, the government will invest $80.5 million over five years in the Federal Tobacco Control Strategy, which is meant to limit the distribution of contraband tobacco. Despite several years of projected deficits in his latest budget, Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa says built in “prudence” will allow a return to balance. Cunningham said contraband, in the Canadian context, is not caused by higher taxes but rather proximity to available supply so there are ways to curtail that.

Source: thestar March 28, 2018 22:56 UTC