(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With regard to Bill 19, at this time as it is written now, I cannot say that I will be in support of this bill. In the past, this government had to follow the federal government. The federal government translates as power. If they are going to fix the policies, we tend to follow them. Sometimes, we have no choice but to follow the federal government's incentives. We had realized that the federal government had run into some problems with the smuggling of tobacco from one area to another.
I know that we are going to have the same situation happening to us. I know that there are many bills and acts. Some of us are quite confused as to which direction to follow. For that reason, for those teenagers at that time who are eligible to buy cigarettes at the age of 16, under the federal government, they changed that to age 18. Therefore, we had to abide by that. However, the elders are still living today and adults as I am are growing older. For those people who receive old age pension, they will be greatly impacted by this bill.
In some of our constituencies, I know that people are not using tobacco as much as they used to. Some houses are non-smoking houses now, in my constituency. If there is one person who is a smoker amongst all the non-smokers in the house, even in the cold weather, you still have to go outside to smoke if the house is non-smoking. In spite of that, all the houses are not non-smoking yet.
I believe that tobacco is not good for your health. However, for those who are smokers, they cannot quit smoking. It is impossible for them to quit. I know that tobacco is bad for your health and there are some foods that are smoked. You don't tax smoked food. Have you ever considered whether smoked food or smoked goods are bad for your health? I wonder if there has ever been research on that.
Cigarettes have a warning on the packages warning you that you can get cancer from smoking. Some people who are non-smokers die of cancer too. Perhaps it is from the smoked foods that they eat. I just wanted to make that comment on the fines that are going to be imposed. With all that, at this time, I cannot support the bill today. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.